Friday night was the Homecoming football game for Dunbar and they played their arguably best game of the season. They defeated the Anderson County Bearcats for their first home win, 40-21. Dunbar controlled the game throughout all 4 quarters, never giving up the lead once.

Dunbar had one of their best offensive performances of this season, tonight. Quarterback Gavin Bugg threw 3 touchdown passes, 2 to wide receiver Tre Homer and one to wide receiver Markel Yeast. Sophomore running back Alex Bard also found the end zone twice in the game, one being a 14-yard run and the other being an 8-yard run. Dunbar’s defense held the Bearcats offense scoreless in the second half after allowing them to 21 in the first.

Anderson County kept the game close for the first half, but got dominated in the second half. They went into halftime only down 27-21, but did not manage to score for the rest of the game. Anderson County turned the ball over multiple times in the second half, the main turnover being a fumble that defensive back Isaiah Yeast returned for the touchdown that closed out the game.

Although Dunbar won, the win did not come easy. “The game was painful but definitely exciting”, said senior linebacker Carter Hayslett. Hayslett has been a key part of Dunbar’s defense, as he leads the team in total tackles, despite playing through a hand injury.

“It felt good to get our first home win. 3 of our 4 losses came from giving up in the second half and tonight we continued to play hard in the second half, so we’re making progress and that’s good”, said senior WR-DB Markel Yeast. Yeast played minimal minutes in the first few games due to a back injury but has been a key part to Dunbar’s recent success.

After a slow start to the season, Dunbar has won the past 2 games by double digits and continues to improve and become a well-rounded football team.

Tonight’s game was also packed with many different events. Dunbar’s Senior Tailgate helped to attract many students from the school to go to the game and the turnout for the “Dog Pound” ended up being immense. Chant after chant, the “Dog Pound” did the most they could do to help their Bulldogs win their first home game. The halftime show consisted of the marching band and color guard performances which was followed up by the introductions of the annual homecoming king and queen.

After this win, Dunbar looks to use their bye week, next week, as more time to improve and prepare for their game against Bryan Station in two weeks.