Bulldogs tame the Dragons in 11-man season opener on the road

The Haxtun Bulldogs kicked off the 2022 season taming the Dragons from Holyoke on their home turf Friday night. The Bulldogs faced off against the county rival in an 11-man contest in a highly anticipated game of the season at the home of the Dragons.

Head Coach JD Stone talked about the game in a preview story featured in the Herald two weeks ago, noting the Haxtun District signed a two-year contract to face off against the Dragons in gridiron action. In those two years, the host site will determine the play of game, 11-man or 8-man. Since the two year contract kicked off at the home of the Dragons, this year's game was set at 11-man. When the Dragons come to Haxtun next season, the contest will feature an 8-man game.

"The team was electric from Monday at practice until the final buzzer Friday night," Stone said. "Anytime you can play a county rival it just adds something special."

The electricity radiating from the Bulldogs could be seen on the field from first kick off. Despite letting the Dragons score first, Haxtun put the pressure on and never let up. Holyoke put six points on the board with a pass play but senior Maclin Tempel used his height to his advantage as he caught some air to block the kick after attempt, holding the home team to just six points. Exactly three minutes later, senior Michael Gerk got the call and with a five-yard run found himself in the endzone to put the Bulldogs on the board. Kailin Kelley attempted the two-point conversion but came up just short of the goal line. However, several plays later, Kelley read the arm of the Holyoke quarterback and came up with a pick six to put the Bulldogs on top for the first time in the game. Gerk found the endzone for the two points after to put Haxtun on top, 14-6.

With 10 minutes left on the clock in the second quarter, sophomore Ryland Wolff connected with a receiver to put the Bulldogs in scoring position again. The very next play, Wolff handed the ball to Kelley who ran it in for six more for Haxtun. Wolff kept the ball on the point after attempt to increase the lead by eight. Holyoke scored two touchdowns in the span of about three minutes mid second quarter but the Bulldogs punched one in before the half to maintain the lead. Wolff ran in a 20-yard keeper and took the call for the two-points after to leave the score 28-18 at half time.

To open the third quarter, Haxtun suffered a block in the back call that pushed the Bulldogs back to nearly the Dragon 20 yard line on third down. A clam Wolff dropped back to pass on the next play and connected perfectly with Gerk to put the Bulldogs within scoring reach. The very next play, Grant Statz kept the ball for a one-yard rushing touchdown. Wolff again completed the two-point conversion for a total of eight on the drive.

The fourth quarter opened with a Holyoke touchdown but on their kickoff, Gerk dropped back to receive and ran it all the way down to the one yard line. Wolff found Kelley in the endzone for his third touchdown in the contest. Wolff caught Kaiden Schelling wide open in the back corner of the endzone for the two-point conversion giving Haxtun a 20-point advantage with just nine minutes left on the clock. Haxtun held Holyoke on downs and in their next drive, Wolff found a gap to break free for a 48-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs failed to capitalize on the point-after attempt but held a 26-point lead. In the final minutes of the game, Holyoke added one last rushing touchdown to leave the score 50-32 at the final buzzer.

"Defensively we made them one dimensional early and they had to resort to only throwing the ball. Offensively our line took control of the game early and gave the rest of the offense the opportunity to run wild!" said Stone.

As a team, the Bulldogs completed 38 plays including 12 first downs. Haxtun suffered five penalties for a loss of 45 yards against the Dragons.

Under center, Wolff went 100 percent as quarterback, completing three passes for 104 yards with an average of 34.7 yards per throw. Gerk completed one pass for 34 yards.

Wolff also led his team on the ground with 107 rushing yards. He averaged 10.7 yards per carry. Gerk registered 88 yards on the ground followed by Kelley with 65. In the air, Gerk tallied 94 receiving yards. He averaged 47 yards per catch. Schelling registered 34 receiving yards and Kelley came up with 10.

On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs came up with 88 tackles. Kelley led the pack of Bulldogs with 12; he earned four solo and eight assisted tackles. Gerk and Statz each tallied eight tackles in the game followed by Corbin Andersen, Keegan Colglazier, Wolff and Colin Cone, each with seven.

This week Haxtun will travel to Holly to face off with the Wildcats. The two teams last met in the playoffs last season when the Bulldogs topped the Wildcats, 46-26, ending Holly's post-season run. According to MaxPreps, Holly is currently 1-0 with a recent win over Custer County. Game time in Holly on Friday is set for 6 p.m.

"We have a small window of time to convert back to 8-man and get ready for a very good Holly team," Stone said.