The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs found themselves in an offensive shootout against the Skyline Tigers where the Bulldogs fell 42-50 in a game that saw over 1,000 yards of offense.

The Tigers began the night on offense at their own 24-yard line and made their way down the field in six plays to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs responded on their first offensive play of the game as Dayton Austin broke two tackles running for an 80-yard touchdown. Ethan Dubois added the 2-point conversion to put ElDo up 8-6. Skyline responded with a 10-play drive that resulted in a touchdown giving the Tigers a 14-8 lead. ElDo answered back with a 4-play drive capped off with a 57-yard touchdown run by Dubois. Austin added the 2-point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 16-14 lead. Skyline scored again, this time on a 7-play drive to regain the lead, 22-16. ElDo punted the ball away on their next possession as the quarter came to a close.

In the second quarter, the Tigers used three plays to score and went ahead 28-16. On the ensuing Skyline kickoff, the Tigers attempted an onside kick they were able to recover giving Skyline the ball at the ElDo 47. The Bulldog defense held strong and forced Skyline to punt the ball away, giving the ElDo offense the ball at their own 24-yard line. Six plays later, Trenton Hardie made his way into the endzone from 30-yards out to make it a 28-22 ballgame. Skyline began their next possession at the Tigers 39-yard line with less than two minutes left in the half. After nine plays, Skyline made it to the ElDo 18-yard line where the Tigers faced 4th and 1. Skyline opted to pass the ball where the pass was broken up by Jake Schieffer giving the Bulldogs the ball with enough time to run one more play. ElDo gave the Tigers a scare with the final play of the half as Austin made it 36 yards downfield before getting pushed out of bounds.

On the first drive of the second half the Bulldogs went 3-and-out and was forced to punt. The Tigers then went 70 yards on a 14-play drive to jump to a 36-22 lead. ElDo responded by covering 77 yards on nine plays where Austin dashed into the endzone from 15 yards out. Riley Boyd added the 2-point conversion to make it a one score game with Skyline leading 36-30, with the third quarter nearing its end.

In the 4th quarter, Skyline was forced to punt and after a bounce in the Tigers favor the ball was downed at the ElDo 3-yard line. In the shadow of their own goal posts, Dayton Austin picked up a key block from Dubois and dashed 94-yards downfield where he was finally dragged down at the Skyline 3-yard line. Two plays later, Boyd found his way into the endzone, tying the game at 36-36 with 8:43 left in the game. Skyline didn’t waste time to answer and after five plays the Tigers regained the lead 44-36. The Bulldogs, unwilling to go away quietly, responded with a scoring drive capped by a 41-yard Austin touchdown. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful and Eldo trailed 44-42 with 3:31 left in the game and having all three timeouts remaining. The Tigers were able to add to their lead by covering 70 yards on five plays to make the score 50-42. Skyline, trying to make it a two score game, opted to attempt a kick for their point after but the snap was mishandled by the holder and ball bounced into the kickers hands. The kicker headed for the pylon and appeared to have space after ElDo defenders dove for him and missed. Seeing this, Boyd did a great job of covering the necessary ground and made an excellent tackle at the 1-yard line to keep it an 8-point, one possession game. With 1:34 left in the game the Bulldog offense took over at their own 20-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Hardie made it 56 yards downfield. Two plays later the Bulldogs took to the air where a holding call backed ElDo into a hole with time running out. On 2nd and 20, Austin gained 7 yards where ElDo took their final timeout. On 3rd down, the Bulldogs had an incomplete pass and on 4th down and 13, Austin fought through several tackles and gained 11 yards coming up 2-yards shy of the first down mark. Skyline took the field where they took a knee to end the game 50-42.

Dayton Austin broke the school record for rushing yards in a game with 360 yards on 19 carries, while Trenton Hardie added 104 yards on 11 carries. As a team, the Bulldogs gained 565 rushing yards. Ethan Dubois led the defense with 25 tackles.

Coach Scroggins said, “I am incredibly proud of our team. I think we played with a lot of heart and a lot of toughness. While we are disappointed we couldn’t pull out the win, I think we showed what we are made of and I think our boys learned how to empty their tanks and leave everything they have on the field. I believe that we are peaking at the right time and I think we have established ourselves as a dangerous team in Class 2 District 4. Offensively, when we can have the type of success that we had tonight it speaks volumes about our offensive line, led by Coach Payne. Wyatt Graves, Dagan McIntire, Nate Marsh, Shelby McKinney, Jamie Isaacs and Blake Holder all did a great job of opening holes and blocking until the whistle. Our young players aren’t playing like young players and starting to realize their potential. I’m excited to keep getting better next week.”

The Bulldogs next take on the 3 seed, Cole Camp, on Friday night at 7 p.m. to start District play.

Facebook Comments