It was a bad night for the Green Bulldogs, and a much worse one for the Springfield Spartans.
 Green overcame 105 yards in first half penalties to beat the Spartans 54-0 for head coach Tom Stacy’s first win with the Bulldogs.

 “It was a very sloppy football game,” Stacy said. “I didn’t think we played too well. We’ve got a long way to go. We had too many penalties.”

 Thirteen, to be exact, just in the first half. But it didn’t slow the speedy Bulldogs from scoring six touchdowns in the half. Justin James led the way with the first two and 158 rushing yards on 12 carries. James finished the game with 219 yards on 16 carries.

 The Bulldogs didn’t turn it off in the second half. Already with 160 yards rushing under his belt, James ran it in from 12 yards out early in the third quarter. The Bulldogs intercepted on Springfield’s first play of the next possession then went for it on fourth-and-nine and scored from 24 yards out to go up 54-0. 

 Green recovered the ensuing kick-off, then went for it again facing fourth-and-two from Springfield’s five, but were stuffed. 

 Springfield’s defense nearly shut down the Bulldogs in their opening drive, but James broke through the line on fourth-and-one for a 6-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. He added a 70-yard touchdown 2  minutes later.

 The Spartans were practically non-existent on offense early in the game, earning their first first down in the final two minutes of the second quarter.

 “We need a little help everywhere,” Springfield head coach Kevin Vaughn said. “We need to learn to deal with a little bit of adversity. We need to learn we can move forward. 

 “We played a good football team tonight. Our hats are off to them. That will probably be one of the better teams we’ll face this season.”

 Springfield made some offensive improvements late in the first and throughout the second half. Junior running back Joey Errington finished with 37 yards on 10 carries, and freshman Dillon Matthews added 33 yards on four carries.

 Dillon Matthews had proven himself last week on the freshman level. He got the opportunity to do so at the varsity level Friday, entering the game in the fourth quarter and immediately breaking away for a 15-yard carry.

 The Bulldogs took a 20-0 lead 26 seconds into the second quarter with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Marque Hughes. Vito Gironda made it 26-0 with a 27-yard touchdown catch. 

 A 25-yard pass to Garrett Cook half-way through the second quarter put Green up 33-0, and the final touchdown of the half came off a 13-yard carry by Hughes. 

 Both coaches plan on using the game as reason to improve.

 “We won’t be able to play that way in the Suburban League,” Stacy said. “We’ve got to have a great week of practice and find what changes we need.”

 Vaughn said the Spartans will take things one week at a time. 

 “We think we’ll match up well with other teams in the conference,” Vaughn said. “We’ll get better.”