No. 2 Pirates improve to 3-0 with victory at Mounds

Gore running back Gunner Dozier rushed for 200 yards and five touchdowns Friday night at Mounds as the Class A No. 2 Pirates improved to 3-0 for the season with the 55-21 victory over the Golden Eagles (1-1)

“I thought we played pretty good going on the road again,” Gore head coach Brandon Tyler said. “I thought we came out in the first half and were up 35-7 at halftime and offensively I thought we did a lot of good things.

“Defensively we still have to get a lot of things corrected. We’re still making too many busts, too many alignment issues and not tackling very well. We’ve got to get that cleaned up before we get into district play. We’ve got one more week and then we’re off and then start district play. So we’ve got two weeks to get ready and we’ve got to get some things cleaned up.”

Gore registered three touchdowns in the opening period and led 21-0 following Christian O’Connor’s three extra-point kicks. Dozier ran for a 1-yard TD with 9:54 remaining before quarterback Noah Cooper rushed for an 8-yard touchdown. With three seconds left Dozier crossed the goal line after a 3-yard run.

Dozier found the end zone after a 6-yard run with 7:18 to go in the second stanza and at the 1:16 mark Cooper completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ben Kirkpatrick. After O’Connor’s second PAT of the quarter Mounds got on the board when quarterback Mason Coddington tossed a 52-yard TD pass and the Pirates led 35-7 at the half.

Almost two minutes into the third period Dozier raced 53 yards for a six-pointer and with 8:28 left in the SEE GORE, PAGE B2