In a battle of the unbeatens Friday night at Rogers Stadium, the Bowdon High School football team came out with a 42-13 win against host Temple.

The Tigers’ Matthan Burton, coming off a 235-yard effort last week, was bottled up all night, mustering just 28 yards on 23 touches.

The Bowdon defense came prepared, and on Temple’s first possession of the game Tiger quarterback Matt Batrouny threw a third-down interception to Red Devil linebacker Eric Slaughter at Temple’s 32-yard line, giving Bowdon the ball with 10:32 remaining in the first quarter.

It only took three plays and one minute off the clock before Red Devil fullback Cory Higginbotham delivered the first punch of the game with a 6-yard touchdown run to put Bowdon (3-0) ahead 7-0.

The Tiger offense struggled, as the Red Devil defense then forced four straight three-and-outs. On each Bowdon possession the offense rolled over the Tiger defense.

On the Red Devils’ second drive, again with good field position on the Temple 31-yard line, quarterback Avery Cheeks’ 24-yard strike to Bowdon receiver Terell Thornton set up running back Eric Slaughter for a 2-yard plunge, making it 14-0 with 6:57 left in the first quarter.

The Red Devils’ third possession would be its longest of the game, lasting seven plays and ending on a 9-yard sprint to the end zone by running back Maricio Askew to end the first quarter with Bowdon leading 21-0.

The Red Devil defense would force another punt for the Tigers (2-1) in the early going of the second quarter to get more excellent field position at the Temple 48-yard line. After a Tiger penalty and a 23-yard first-down pass from Cheeks to Askew to reach the Temple 12, fullback Wesley Stephens stretched for the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown, running the score to 28-0 with 11:32 in the second quarter.

Temple used just about every trick in the book to generate some yards on offense, even lining Burton up at quarterback. It wasn’t until 7:43 left in the second quarter that the Tiger offense gained its first first down of the game. Four straight Bowdon defensive penalties gave the Tigers the short field, and with 6:40 left in the second quarter Burton finally hit the end zone with a 3-yard run to bring the score to 28-6.

The Red Devils kept rolling with the ensuing possession. After a 32-yard return to the 42 by Slaughter, Askew turned on the burners for a 58-yard touchdown run to end the first half scoring with Bowdon up 35-6.

The Red Devils would put another score on the board in the second half as Higginbotham would score on a 29-yard run early in the third quarter.

For the second half, Bowdon coach Dwight Hochstetler mixed some of the younger players in the game due to the game getting out of hand. Burton would add a 16-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, ending the scoring on the night.

Bowdon’s defense played tenaciously, only allowing 97 total yards offensively for Temple. The Red Devil defense also had two sacks, one for lineman Jarred Strickland and one for Cheeks. Slaughter and Askew each recorded interceptions.

Askew led the Bowdon running attack with five carries for 102 yards. Higginbotham got 79 yards on a tough six carries.