Dogs defeat Wildcats

The Bulldogs didn't play their best football last Saturday, but it was still good enough for them to get the win over Circle and secure a spot in the Montana 8-man playoffs.

In the first quarter, the Dogs moved the ball okay on offense, despite several missed blocking assignments. Twice they fumbled the football while deep in Wildcat territory. They also were forced to punt on one possession.

Circle, meanwhile, had their own problems on offense. Bulldog junior Ryan Rychner intercepted a Wildcat pass early in the first quarter. Later, Mick O'Connor blocked a punt that was recovered by Jared Pardee.

Early in the second quarter, the Dogs finally got on the scoreboard with a safety when O'Connor sacked Hayden Lockie in the east end zone of Rowley Field.

The Dogs got their first touchdown at the 4:07 mark in the second on a 12 yard touchdown pass from Turner Tooke to O'Connor. O'Connor laid out and caught the pass just before it hit the ground, and just inside the out of bounds line.

With 32 seconds left in the half, O'Connor scored again, this time on a 16 yard run, and it appeared the Dogs were starting to roll. Jared Pardee ran in the conversion.

However, on a shortened field after a squib kick, Circle was able to make the most of the little time left and scored on a 3 yard run. They also ran in the conversion, bringing the halftime score to 16-8.

The Wildcats took back the second half kickoff 78 yards to bring themselves within two points of the lead.

After that, the Dogs marched the ball down the field and scored on a 4 yard Tooke run. Again, Circle scored less than a minute later on a long run play, bringing the score to 22-20 with 5:12 left in the third quarter.

On the next possession, Turner Tooke fumbled a snap but picked it up and ran it in for a 19 yard score. Pardee again ran in the conversion. It was all Bulldogs from there.

In the fourth quarter the Dogs scored twice and kept Circle out of the end zone. The first score was a fourth and long conversion on a pass from Tooke to O'Connor. The second was a busted play that Tooke ran in from 36 yards out. Tooke also ran in both conversions in the final frame, one of which was also on a broken play, the other on a good looking option.

The win locked in blue as a three seed out of the east for the Montana 8-Man playoffs. This weekend the Dogs are off while other conferences play final games to determine playoff teams. Culbertson, currently fifth in the east, is playing a challenge game at Circle, currently fourth, this weekend to determine the final playoff team out of the east.

Next Saturday at 1 p.m. the Dogs will play at Great Falls Central in the first round of the playoffs. Great Falls finished second in the northern conference after a loss to Fort Benton last weekend. Fort Benton awaits the winner of the Culbertson vs. Circle game.