ElDo Middle School Bulldog Football teams 1-1

The 7th and 8th grade Bulldog Football teams opened their season on Thursday, Sept. 8, on the road against the Bolivar Liberators.

The 7th grade found themselves outsized and outnumbered as they took the field, but fought to the end and never gave up. The Bulldogs went into halftime down 24-0. After making some adjustments both offensively and defensively the Bulldogs came out in the second half and started moving the ball and only allowed one more score to make the final score 30-0.

The 8th grade Bulldogs had revenge on their mind. Last year they lost by two points on the last play of the game to the Liberators so they were ready to get the bad taste out of their mouth.

The Bulldogs got the ball to start the game and marched right down the field only to turn the ball over by throwing an interception in the end zone. After battling back and forth for most of the 1st half the Liberators finally struck first with a score halfway through the second quarter. The Bulldogs went into halftime down 8-0.

The Liberators scored again in the 3rd quarter and completed the two point conversion to make it 16-0. Then the Bulldogs got on the board with a five-yard touchdown run by quarterback, Jakob Studer, the two-point conversion failed. The Bulldog defense continued to hold the Liberator offense and then got the break they needed when free safety Lance Molz intercepted a pass and returned it 80 yards for an apparent touchdown that was called back due to a Bulldog penalty. The Bulldogs still had good field position but could not score. Time eventually ran out on the Bulldogs and the game ended with a final score of 16-6.

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the Bulldogs hosted the Warsaw Wildcats. Both teams were looking to get back on the winning track and they did just that.

The 7th grade started the night off right with a 14-0 win. The first score was set up by a 25-yard pass from quarterback Riley Boyd to tight end Colton Svendsen who was tackled on the 3 yard line. Running back Jonathan Ramsey punched the ball in for six points and Riley Boyd completed the two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs up 8-0.
This was the score at the end of the first half.

The Bulldog defense started the second half and continued to play strong forcing the Wildcats to turn the ball over on downs. In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs struck again on a long touchdown run by running back Dayton Austin to put the Bulldogs up 14-0. That was the final score of the game and the 7th grade Bulldogs got their first win of the season.

Contributing to an outstanding defensive effort were Austin Swartz with five solo tackles, Colton Svendsen with three solos and Johnathon Ramsey had one QB sack.
The 8th grade Bulldogs took the momentum the 7th grade had established and ran with it. The 8th grade had the offense rolling as they won 40-8.

The Bulldogs scored twice in the 1st quarter on a 23-yard run by running back Cody Long and a 30 yard run by Lance Molz. Jakob Studer scored both two-point conversions to give the Bulldogs a 16-0 lead.

They took this lead into halftime and then built on it the entire second half. Running back Lance Molz had another touchdown run of 40 yards in the 3rd quarter. The successful two point conversion gave the Bulldogs a 24-0 lead.

The Bulldog defense forced the Wildcats to punt late in the 3rd quarter and it was blocked by Landen Smith then picked up by Jakob Studer and returned for the 4th
Bulldog touchdown of the night. On the following kickoff the Wildcats returned it 80 yards for their only score of the night. The Bulldogs final score came on a 6 yd. touchdown run by Levy Smith in the 4th quarter to bring the final score to 40-0 for
the Bulldog win.

Cody Long had nine carries for 128 yards, Lance Molz had eight carries for 135 yards.
The defense was led by Tyler McNeece with nine tackles. Cody Long had eight tackles. Jakob Studer had five tackles and a QB sack.

The Bulldogs next contest was Tuesday, Sept. 20 at home versus Nevada.