Bulldogs “Make It A Game”

DAYTON - It wasn't the Bulldogs' expectation to win against the undefeated Cardi­nals in Dayton's Homecom­ing game Friday. But they hoped "to make it game," as senior Bulldogs running back Dain Henderson put it.

And they did. The Bull­dogs lost 20-0 to their cross-valley rivals, and if Dayton's offense had been more effec­tive, the margin would have been considerably smaller. The Cardinals scored only once during the first half. Cardinal T.J. Hofer intercept­ed

a first-possession throw by Bulldogs quarterback Colton Bickelhaupt and ran it 27 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Both head coaches said they were impressed by the Bulldogs' defense. "After that first play, they could have panicked and they didn't," WP coach Jeff Bart­low said. "They should be proud of the way they went back to business." Immediately after the touchdown, the Bulldogs blocked Dalton Estes' extra-point attempt.

On their second posses­sion, the Bulldogs were suc­cessful in driving the ball down the field, aided by several hard runs from Dain Henderson and long penal­ties against the Cardinals.

But on this and subse­quent drives, the Dayton of­fense fizzled in the red zone. "We just have to develop that killer instinct that noth­ing

is going to stop us from getting a touchdown when we're in there," Dayton coach Dean Bickelhaupt said. But as the half continued, the Cardinals couldn't get much going on offense either. "We underestimated them," Bartlow said about the Bullsdogs. "Their defense was good. They've improved a lot, and we added to our problems with poor execu­tion." Although quarterback Zach Bartlow was mostly on target, several of his receivers dropped the ball. Alex Dill, whose error in the first quar­ter led to the Cardinals' third turnover of the season, was no exception. His fumble was picked up by Albert Yacovelli, but again the Bull­dogs

failed to score on their next possession.

Quarterback Bickelhaupt completed passes to Joey Schlachter and Garett Turner, but the Bulldog's offense ran into the WP defense putting pressure on the pocket and chasing Bickelhaupt for a loss.

WP took over on downs, and teams traded possessions around the middle of the field, each quickly exhaust­ing

their downs through dropped passes and sacks until the half ended. Coach Bartlow said the halftime break was essential in turning around his team's offensive success. They needed to snap out of the energy slump off last week's defeat of DeSales. "We got it together," he said. "The third quarter was the difference. We came out and took the win." On the first possession of the second half, the Cardinals drove toward the end zone in a seesaw of penalties, recov­ered fumbles, short and long passes and carries until Kris Cady managed a run to the 10-yard line and a catch and run by Hofer brought it to the 1. Justin Armstrong dashed it into the end zone for WP's second touchdown, followed by Bartlow's two-point con­version pass to him that made it 14-0 with 6:41 minutes to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs did not answer the score on the next possession and punted well short of the end zone. Several short WP carries brought the ball to the Dayton 40-yard line. Bartlow threw a pass to Dustin Wooderchak that flewout of "Woody's" hands and was picked up in mid air by Hofer, who ran it the rest of the way into the end zone for the Cardinals' third TD for 20-0. Estes missed the extra-point attempt. The defensive struggle from earlier in the game resumed, mixed in with fum­bles, drops and recoveries. Two Bulldogs were hurt in the fourth quarter. Mike Gatlin got the wind knocked out of him in the sternum and stayed flat on the field with trouble breath­ing. He was taken off the field by ambulance. Bickelhaupt hobbled off the field with a knee problem. Coach Bickelhaupt said both players are recovering and likely in the starting line­up for Dayton's next game at Tekeo-Oakesdale-Rosalia on Friday. The final score did not reflect how close the game really was, Bartlow said.

"They (Bulldogs) are bet­ter than they've been given credit for," he said. "They could have beaten us if we hadn't played harder in the third quarter." WP vs Dayton