Playing its first home game in more than six weeks, The Rockdale Bulldogs, behind TJ Warren's 244 all-purpose yards, got back in the win column with a 37-14 victory over region foe Lakeside (DeKalb) on Homecoming Night at Reid Stadium.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Bulldogs, which evened its record to 4-4, 1-2 in Region 2-AAAAAA. The Vikings dropped to 3-5 on the campaign, 1-2 in region play.

Rockdale coach Venson Elder, whose team had lost four straight road games against state powers Lowndes County, Stockbridge, Lovejoy and Tucker, proved prescient before the game when talking about the losing streak.

"Sometimes, you to play the better teams to get better," Elder said. "We didn't put any of the games in the win column. But we got better as a team, and I believe you'll see that tonight.

It was defense, however, that dominated the first period as neither team could muster much offense.

Lakeside senior running back Kellyen Walker carried three times for 22 yards on the Vikings first series. But he fumbled the ball when he ran into his own player and the Bulldogs took over on their own 42-yard line at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter.

Rockdale receiver T.J. Warren gained 27 yards on a reverse on the Bulldogs first play of the game. But, the offense bogged down and Rockdale turned the ball over on downs.

The rest of the first quarter played out much the same and ended in a scoreless tie.

The Bulldogs started the second period deep in Lakeside territory, but quarterback Zuri Minnifield threw an interception on a fourth-and-12 to kill the drive. However, Rockdale's defense forced a three-and-out for the Vikings. And, after a short Lakeside punt, the Bulldogs took over on the Vikings 42-yard line with 8:46 left in the half.

From there, the Bulldogs needed only six plays to find the end-zone - the big play being Warren's first of three rushing touchdowns on a 26-yard sweep around left end for a touchdown at the 7:26 mark of the second quarter. Rockdale faked the extra point kick, and Minifield hit Warren in the end zone for a two-point conversion giving the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead.

Lakeside, however, needed only 1:56 to answer with a scoring drive of its own led by senior running back Kellyen Walker (24 carries, 183 yards, two touchdowns). On second and 13, Vikings quarterback Will Jernigan handed the ball off to Walker who ran 25 yards straight up the middle untouched to put Lakeside on the scoreboard. The extra point was good, and the Bulldogs lead was cut to one, 8-7, with 5:30 until halftime.

Rockdale then put together a 12-play, 77-yard scoring drive to lead 15-7 with 1:14 left in the half. The big plays were a 52-yard pass completion to Warren, a fourth-and-13 conversion to Warren, and a 16-yard scoring strike from Minnifield to junior tailback Devin Williams.

Lakeside started its final drive of the half on its 41. On the first play from scrimmage, Jernigan hit tight end Damon Davis on a swing pass for a 59-yard touchdown. However, a holding call nullified the score, and the half ended with the Vikings missing a 44-yard field goal attempt and Rockdale up 15-7 heading into the locker room.

The Bulldogs received the second-half kick and came out with Warren in the "wildcat" formation at quarterback. Two Warren runs of 20 and 39 yards, and 34 seconds, are all Rockdale needed to extend its lead to 21-7. The 31-yard scoring run was vintage Warren, a University of Missouri signee. Taking the direct snap, Warren ran off left guard, cut right, broke several tackles, allowed his blockers to clear a path and scampered in for the score.

Lakeside moved the ball well on its first possession of the second half, but an interception by Bulldog free safety Malik Dawkins killed the Vikings drive.

Both teams would trade punts, with Rockdale taking the ball on its own 41 with 3:21 left in the period.

Once again, the Bulldogs used Warren in the "wildcat" formation to great effect. This time, it only took Warren 27 seconds to score on runs of 28 and 31 yards and put Rockdale up 29-7 at the 2:54 mark of the third quarter (the two-point conversion was successful).

"Their (Lakeside's) job was to stop number five (Williams)," Elder said. "So, when we saw that we made the switch to the wildcat so the quarterback could run the ball and make some big plays off it."

Lakeside's Walker would answer on a 14-yard scoring run with 10 second left in the quarter. The extra point was good and the Vikings had cut the lead to 29-14.

After Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to midfield, Minnifield was given the rest of the night off and was replaced by senior Talon Bundrage.

From midfield to start the fourth quarter, Bundrage handed off to running back Deonta Clark Jr. for 39 yards around right end to the Vikings 11-yard line. Two plays later, Williams took an inside handoff 11 yards for the final touchdown of the game. Bundrage found Warren for the successful two-point conversion, and Rockdale bid the Vikings safe travels after the 37-14 victory.

According to Elder, if the Bulldogs beat Alcovy next Friday (0-8, 0-3 in region play) Rockdale will automatically qualify for the playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Sharp Stadium in Covington.

Injury update: Keijne Thomas, who was injured in the game at Tucker and taken away by ambulance, has a broken tibia.

"He broke his tibia and he'll be fine," coach Elder said. "We had to be careful with him because he was hit just below his neck between the shoulder blades. But all the tests came back negative, and he's here tonight supporting his team."