Bulldogs pick up 1st round win at home against Hoehne on Sunday

A 60-point home field victory over Hoehne sends the Haxtun Bulldogs to the quarterfinals round of 8-man playoff action. Fall winter weather forced Colorado High School Activities Association officials to run a number of audibles as snow blanketed much of the southern and mountain areas of the State. Brackets throughout all classifications saw schedules changes, forcing games to be played on Sunday and even into Monday the following week to allow teams to travel safely to playoff destinations, including the matchup with Haxtun and Hoehne. The Farmers were able to dig out and make their way to the bus, some by means of tractors, for the 300 mile drive for a Sunday afternoon contest in the first round of 8-man playoffs. Haxtun entered number one, Hoehne came in 16th.

The Bulldogs scored on the first drive of the game, putting a quick eight points on the board with less than a minute off the clock. Shortly after, quarterback Ryland Wolff found a gap and punched it in for six and Haxtun capitalized on the two-point conversion to go up 16-0. The Farmers turned the ball over on fourth down in their next possession and the Bulldogs took over on the 30 yard line. Cole Firme scored on the next drive and Wolff found Jaxsen Schram open in the end zone for the two-points to follow for a 24 point advantage from the home team. Still in the first, Firme came up with an interception and the next play Wolff connected with Chase Goddard for six. Corbin Andersen found the gap for the two-point conversion and the Bulldogs held a 32-0 lead after the first quarter.

Hoehne gave up the ball on fourth down, again, to start the second quarter and Zach Statz took full advantage with a 53-yard touchdown run. Following the kickoff, Zach Statz forced a fumble that was picked up and ran back for six by his brother, Grant, to give the Bulldogs another touchdown in just a matter of seconds. Avian Calderon got the call for two to put Haxtun up 46-0, enough for a running clock for the remainder of the game. Haxtun held a 46 point advantage at the half and would go on to add another eight in the third quarter and six in the fourth for a final 60-0 victory.

"The Linedogs set the tone of the game, they were physical and disciplined. It makes our job easy when they do that," Head Coach JD Stone said of his team's offensive showing against Hoehne on Sunday.

The Bulldog defense held the Hoehne Farmers to only 135 total offensive yards on Sunday. Before, the Farmers were averaging 99 yards in the air and 217 on the ground, according to MaxPreps. Hoehne also averaged nearly five touchdowns per game before coming to Haxtun, where they were completely shut down by the Bulldogs.

"We are lucky to be so deep on defense, we can rotate guys in and out, so we stay fresh, and it wears teams down," Stone said. "Offensively we started on Hoehne's side of the field the entire game, that makes a score board look lopsided at every level of football."

The Bulldogs racked up 262 yards on the ground and 98 in the air for a total of 360 on offense in the contest with Hoehne. Wolff completed two passes for a total of 78 yards; both of the passes were good for Bulldog touchdowns. Colin Cone connected with two of three passes for 20 yards. Goddard caught both of Wolff's touchdown passes for a total of 84 receiving yards. Corbin Andersen caught one of Cone's passes for 14 yards.

Zach Statz led the Bulldog ground game with 106 yards off five carries and one touchdown. Wolff carried the ball three times for 51 yards and one rushing touchdown. Firme punched in two rushing touchdowns. He carried the ball a total of seven times for 41 yards. Gabriel Bacerra had one touchdown run.

Grant Statz racked up 10 total tackles to lead the Bulldog defense. He registered five solo and five assisted. Colin Cone tallied seven tackles, Austin Knox had six and Firme totaled five. Grant Statz, Ryan Davis and Bret Kanode each had a sack on the Hoehne quarterback.

Sunday's win pits the Bulldogs in a quarterfinals match up with Sanford set for Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. in Haxtun. It will be the second meeting of the two teams this season. The Bulldogs took down Sanford 60-0 on the road in mid-September.

"Sanford had a lot of sophomores playing," Stone said of that first meeting. To earn their spot in the quarterfinals, Sanford earned a 20-18 win over Springfield earlier this week.

"This football team has an incredibly high football IQ, we can do some very complex concepts on offense and defense, I would like to think we are still sharping our sword," Stone said of his team's work in continuing to prep in the post-season.