'Dogs win in Park City, improve to 1-1 on season

The Bulldogs played the Panthers on a humid football evening in Park City last Friday. The game was initially scheduled to be a home game at Rowley Field, but due to a ref shortage, it was moved to Park City. The only refs available for the contest were out of Billings.

The Bulldogs didn't look good early. After a poor showing in a big loss the prior week in Wibaux, it initially looked like it was going to be more of the same for Blue. The 'Dogs had several false starts on offense in the first quarter that continually put them behind the chains. They also muffed two punts early on that cost them.

But, instead of rolling over and giving up, Blue came roaring back.

The biggest difference between their season opener against Wibaux and last Friday's game in Park City was effort. Well, effort and a new look defense that seemed to give the Panthers some problems of their own.

Park City had at least as many woes as the 'Dogs did on offense in the first half, and allowed Blue back into the game. CCHS went from being down to tying the game at the 4:30 mark in the second quarter.

By half, Blue was up, 34-22. Much of the momentum swing came when sophomore quarterback Chace Loehding entered the game. Loehding took control of the offense and led a running attack for most of the game that the Panthers simply couldn't stop. Blue cleaned up the penalties and put together several lengthy drives, tiring the Panther defense. The Dawgs also found some success through the air as freshman quarterback Roger Beach connected with tight end Kaleb Frye on a few wide open pass plays.

Defensively, the only thing the Dawgs really gave up were a few big pass plays. Panther quarterback Teegan Hahne spent a lot of his night chasing down shotgun snaps that were either too high or too low, but when Hahne got a clean snap from his center, he did connect for a few scores. A fierce Bulldog pass rush continually forced the ball out quickly though, so most of the damage ended up being on screen passes.

The Panthers returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in the game. Bulldog Ethan Frye returned one for a score as well.

The Dawgs were fully in control of the game by the midway point of the third quarter but did allow a few late Panther scores. Blue ended up winning by 12, 54-42.

With the effort and heart they showed in Park City, the Bulldogs will have a chance to make some noise this season if they can clean up some of their penalties and mental mistakes. This week they are scheduled to play an away game at Lodge Grass.