Bulldogs fall short during hard fought conference battle

Sept. 11, 2020, marked 19 years since the attacks in New York City at the World Trade Centers. It was an emotional day at the DogPound as pregame festivities brought tears to eyes honoring those fallen and those first responders still serving today. Coach Kelley Beckner organized the events after gaining approval from administration over the summer.

“It was a fantastic evening, even taking a loss, it was incredible to see our athletes take part in something larger than themselves.”

The Bulldog team carried American flags through the grandstand and onto the track surrounding current first responders who were in attendance. “It was a great moment for our community.”

The game itself was a hard fought battle which didn’t turn out a W for the home team. Beckner added,”We can always learn more from a loss than a win, but dang, I really wanted to get those guys.”  The first half of the game was a back and forth match up of defense and physical play.

“We knew going in it was going to be a battle and that we were going to have to play all 4 quarters, we ended up only playing 3 of the 4 but I still saw some positive things. The mistakes we made are things we can correct, but you have to also give credit, Buffalo has some dudes, and one of the best players we will see this season in their QB.”

The Bulldogs had week 2 off, after Clever canceled the day of the contest due to Covid reasoning.

“I hope they are able to come back and finish their season, but it would have helped us a lot having had the second game before playing this week. I believe the biggest growth comes from week 1 to week 2, unfortunately I am not sure we were fully able to see that growth having had a ‘bye’ in week 2.”

“I am proud of this team, I love them all, wouldn’t trade them for any other team. We will bounce back, that game against Buffalo will only prepare us better going forward and into district time.”

The Bulldogs will face their first road test of the year traveling to Adrian this week.

“They are a solid team, great size and strength, and will not hurt themselves with penalties or turnovers. There were times against Buffalo we needed to create our momentum and weren’t able to do it. We plan to have some energetic practices week full of great effort and no mental mistakes.”

Coach Beckner would like to thank all of the school personnel who had a hand in the gamemade ceremony, from the field and maintenance staff, to the art classes helping design the field, the band for performing lights out, and lastly the administration for allowing us to do something like that.

HAND OFF – Sr. Clayton Collins reading the Buffalo defense with Jr. Chance Esparza at RB.

STIFF ARM – Sr. QB Clayton Collins fending off a Buffalo tackler.

EVADING CAPTURE – Gaven Morgan making a Buffalo defender miss.

DOG ON THE MOVE – Preston Robison taking the corner against the Buffalo defense for the Bulldogs first score of the game.