Cade Hopkins (2) slips through two Forest defenders to return a punt for the Bulldogs.

In the age of spread offenses and air raid quarterbacks, Clarkdale coach Bubba Brannan has ridden a sweep-heavy run offense to an undefeated start. The Bulldogs put up 260 total points so far this season while giving up just 18, and they proved they can dominate region opponents in their Region 5-3A opener.

Led by quarterback Cal Culpepper, the Bulldogs (6-0, 1-0) pounded their way to a 49-0 win over the Forest Bearcats (2-4, 0-1) at home on Friday.

Culpepper put the first points on the board by scrambling for a 57-yard touchdown rush to cap the game’s opening drive. He ran for 110 yards on the night and scored two more rushing touchdowns, both in the first half.

“(Brannan) told me from the beginning that he wanted to use my legs, so I said, ‘Yes sir, I’ll do whatever you want me to do,’” Culpepper said. “Whenever I have a big performance like this, I always give credit to my o-line. They do the dirty work.”

Culpepper threw just three passes, but his two completions earned him 58 yards and two touchdowns. The senior is a talented dual-threat quarterback, but he is also in his first year of kicking and punting for the Bulldogs.

“We use him to do just about everything. He kicks for us, he’s quarterback for us, he can play defense for us,” Brannan said. “He’s a special player. He makes big plays. There were a few times where it wasn’t even the play we called and he turned it into something good.”

Receiver Cade Hopkins, one of Culpepper’s top targets, said one of his best skills is route running. He proved his point on the Bulldogs’ third drive when he snuck past the Bearcat coverage to get wide open down the right sideline for a 22-yard touchdown.

“I ran an inside route and came back out, and they just bit on the inside route,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins’ second touchdown of the night came on defense when he jumped a route to pick off a pass from Jayden Adcox before returning the interception for a touchdown.

“It felt really good,” Hopkins said. “I felt like I got beat a little bit, and then I just kind of made a play on it.”

Clarkdale’s defense played well all night and gave up little yardage to the Forest attack. The Bulldogs largely shut down their opponents through the air by intercepting two Bearcat passes.

“The defense helped us a lot by getting short field,” Brannan said. “They played fast and they played hard, and that causes turnovers. Plus, we’ve been pretty good on the run, which kind of forces people to pass when they don’t want to, and I think that may have led to some of those interceptions.”

Next up, Clarkdale will travel to Morton for another Region 5-3A matchup on Friday, Oct. 7.