Published: October 10, 2008 12:07 am      

'Dogs pitch shutout

Memorial's rugged defense blanks Norman 20-0

Memorial quarterback Blake Umberham hit Taylor Whiteside with two fourth quarter touchdown passes as the Bulldogs got its second straight shutout in a 20-0 win over Norman at Wantland Stadium on Thursday night.

It was a defensive struggle to say the least, as Memorial didn’t get a first down until the last play of the first quarter. Norman didn’t get one until the second half.

But with a 6-0 lead in the fourth quarter, Memorial (4-2, 2-1) turned to running back Anthony Morales (Morales had 94 yards on 12 carries), which in turn opened up the passing game.

“That’s what we had to have, the fourth quarter was so crucial. That’s what we talk about, playing four quarters of football, you’ve got to. The kids did a great job of adjusting,” Memorial head coach Mark Walker said.

Morales netted runs of 10, 10, and nine yards, setting up Umberham’s 15-yard touchdown strike to a wide open Whiteside, to give the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead with 11:19 left to play.

Eight minutes later, the two hooked up for a 21-yard touchdown pass to put the game out of reach.

Norman struggled all night, as Memorial held the Tigers below 100 yards of total offense.

“We’re coming out, we’re a good defense,” Morales said. “I knew we could be. We have some young guys and they’re getting better every week. Our coaches tell us, “If they don’t score, they can’t win,” and we knew we weren’t going to let them score.”

With two straight wins, the Bulldogs have put themselves in the upper half of the district, which is exactly where they want to be with Westmoore coming up next week.

“We laid an egg against Midwest City, every game is big from now on. Now we just need to focus on Westmoore,” Morales, who had a seven yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, said.

Umberham finished the game with 111 yards passing, as he completed 14-of-21 passes on the night.