Bulldogs Clinch at Least a Share of Division Title
Delhi clinched
their 10th playoff berth in 12 years, and clinched at least a share
of the division title with a 14-12 win over BG. The ‘Dogs followed a great
rushing effort by Jack Fletcher, Tom Telian, and
Colin Ellis in rushing for 277 yards, and moving the chains 16 times in the
game. The defense bent a few times in the game, but was able to keep it under
control, as BG was limited to 93 yards rushing, including 29 on 12 attempts by
Dakota Vandermark, who a week earlier had rushed for
322 yards and 3 TD’s on 32 carries.
Walton was also a
winner, triumphing 28-7 over Oxford, so Delhi will be the east’s #1 seed in the
Section IV Class D playoffs, with Walton the #2.
As has been the
pattern in all but a couple games this season, Delhi came blazing out of the
gates once again. Facing a RB that had already surpassed 1000 yards (Vandermark) as well as another who is a brutally tough FB
(Billy Holden), Delhi held the Bobcats to a 3 and out on the game’s first
possession.
The Bulldogs then strutted their stuff on offense, as Jack Fletcher, Tom Telian, and Colin Ellis brought the ball right down the
field with authority. Ellis put the punctuation mark on the drive with a nice 6
yard TD run, smacking a few defenders before crossing the goal line. Ellis
would take in the 2 pointer as well, and the Bulldogs were up 8-0 in the 1st
quarter.
For a few minutes
things continued to look up for Delhi. Playing in a mostly constant rain, BG
began to have some struggles holding onto the ball, particularly on the
center/QB exchanges. On the first play of BG’s next possession, the fumbled
snap was recovered by Delhi.
Fletcher then took
the first handoff and took off on a very nice long run. Delhi would become a
victim of the weather on this very play, however, as
Fletcher lost the ball while being tackled, and BG regained possession.
Delhi would then
yield a couple first downs, but then was able to force a BG punt. Delhi again
showed some offensive power, driving the ball inside BG’s 25 yard line, with a
good number of the yards coming from Telian. Facing a
3rd and 2, the Bulldogs came up with a drive-killing 5 yard penalty
however, and were not able to come up with the first down on the 2 plays, and
BG took over.
BG began to come
together somewhat on offense, and FB Billy Holden began to show some strength
in getting past Delhi’s defenders. BG drove deep into Delhi territory, and
Holden even appeared to have a ~25 yard TD run, but it was called back on a
holding penalty. BG was able to pick up an additional 1st down,
however, moving ever closer. The Bulldog defense stiffened, and on 4th
down, BG sent their kicker in to attempt the field goal. The low kick was
easily blocked, and all appearances pointed to Delhi having dodged a bullet.
The play, however, was not ruled dead, and the ball sat on the ground for
several seconds while players from both teams just kind of wandered around.
Finally, Holden picked up the ball and trotted into the end zone for the
bizarre BG TD. Despite being down by 2 points, BG decided to go for the kick,
and this time the kicker slipped on the wet field, and the 2nd kick
did not make it off the ground. Delhi then retained an 8-6 lead.
Delhi took over
with the 2nd quarter clock winding down, and once again began moving
the ball well. Between some Fletcher and Telian
running plays and a 18 yard pass completion to Jacob Sackett, Delhi brought the ball down to a 1st
and goal from the 6 yard line, with well under a minute to play. On the 1st
down play, the team hurriedly lined up for an apparent clock-stopping spike,
but QB Anthony Salerno faked the spike and tried a run up the middle. The play
was not effective, however, as Salerno only picked up about a yard, and the
clock continued to tick. The 2nd down play was then used for the
spike, and Delhi had 2 shots from the 5 to put it in. Memories went back to the
previous Saturday, when Kevin O’Connell caught a 21 yard TD on the last play of
the half against Walton, but things would not go as well this time around, as
some good BG coverage resulted in 2 incompletions to end the half.
Once again looking
similar to other weeks, Delhi came out of the 2nd half gates with
great authority. Delhi once again bulled the ball down the field on the opening
possession, making things look somewhat easy. Ellis would again be the one to
cash in, scoring on a 3 yard run. Delhi was able to coax an offsides out of BG, meaning just a 1 ½ yard 2 point
try, but this time BG took Ellis down in the backfield, so the score stood at
14-6 Delhi.
BG would continue
to give Delhi troubles, however, as the Bobcats again
brought the ball down the field, once again mostly on the rushing of Holden,
though a pass completion to Danny Gormley was key in
keeping the drive alive. A 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty hurt the Bulldogs
even further. Deep in Delhi territory, the Bulldogs were finally able to put
together a fairly strong stand, bringing up a 4th and 9 situation. The ‘Dogs couldn’t finish it off, however, as BG
was able to complete another pass to Gormley to the 1
yard line, this coming despite very good pressure from the Delhi defense on BG
QB Ryan Porter. Holden was then able to finish the job with a 1 yard TD run.
Another bobbled exchange helped Delhi, and Holden came up short on the 2 point
attempt. Nearing the end of the 4th quarter, Delhi held on to a
14-12 advantage.
Things still looked
optimistic, as Delhi had been moving the ball quite well to that point. Delhi
would pick up another first down, but the offense kind of stalled for the night
after that. Delhi came to a 4th down a few yards on BG’s side of
midfield, and decided to go for it. The attempt failed, and BG took over with
good field position.
Fortunately for
Delhi, even though the offense flattened out for the 4th quarter,
the defense stepped it up a bit. The 2 teams actually exchanged a couple punts,
with one Delhi punt following 2 consecutive delay of
game penalties on 3rd down that greatly hurt the ‘Dogs chances of
generating any offensive momentum.
BG began the last
drive with time winding down at the end of the game. A 20 yard pass completion
to Holden got the Bobcats inside the Delhi 30, and 3 running plays brought up a
4th and 4 from the 23 with about 40 seconds to play. Despite the
earlier lack of success with kicking the ball in the wet conditions, BG decided
to give it one more shot. The Bobcats let the clock run down to just under 12
seconds, and then called time out. The kicker came on, and, despite a high
snap, was able to get a much better kick off, but it was well to the left, and
the close Delhi win was secured.
Delhi will close
out the regular season with a home game against Deposit/Hancock on Saturday.
Deposit/Hancock is 0-7 on the season.
Delhi 14, BG 12
First Quarter:
Delhi – Colin Ellis
6 run (Ellis run)
Second Quarter:
BG – Billy Holden
12 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter:
Delhi – Ellis 3 run
(run failed)
BG – Holden 1 run (run failed)
|
DELHI |
BG |
||||||||||
|
Rushing |
Att |
Yards |
Ave |
TD |
|
|
Rushing |
Att |
Yards |
Ave |
TD |
|
Jack Fletcher |
22 |
113 |
5.1 |
0 |
|
|
Billy Holden |
19 |
76 |
4.0 |
2 |
|
Tom Telian |
12 |
99 |
8.3 |
0 |
|
|
Dakota Vandermark |
12 |
29 |
2.4 |
0 |
|
Colin Ellis |
9 |
46 |
5.1 |
2 |
|
|
Danny Gormley |
3 |
0 |
0.0 |
0 |
|
Anthony Salerno |
5 |
15 |
3.0 |
0 |
|
|
Ryan Porter |
5 |
-12 |
-2.4 |
0 |
|
Kevin O'Connell |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
|
|
Totals |
39 |
93 |
2.4 |
2 |
|
Totals |
49 |
277 |
5.7 |
2 |
|
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|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Passing |
Comp |
Att |
Yards |
INT |
|
Passing |
Comp |
Att |
Yards |
TD |
INT |
Comp % |
Ryan Porter |
3 |
8 |
45 |
0 |
|
Anthony Salerno |
2 |
8 |
26 |
0 |
0 |
0.250 |
Totals |
3 |
8 |
45 |
0 |
|
Totals |
2 |
8 |
26 |
0 |
0 |
0.250 |
|
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|
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|
|
Receiving |
Number |
Yards |
Ave |
TD |
|
Scoring |
Rush TD's |
Rec
TD's |
Def TD's |
2 Pt |
PAT |
Points |
Danny Gormley |
2 |
25 |
12.5 |
0 |
|
Colin Ellis |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
Billy Holden |
1 |
20 |
20.0 |
0 |
|
Totals |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
Totals |
3 |
45 |
15.0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Receiving |
Number |
Yards |
Ave |
TD's |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jacob Sackett |
1 |
18 |
18.0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kevin O'Connell |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
2 |
26 |
13.0 |
0 |
|
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|
Defense |
Tackles |
Assists |
INT |
Fumb Rec |
TD |
|
|||||
|
Eli Wright |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Brian Ingram |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
John MacNaught |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Jacob Sackett |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Michael Thomas |
4 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Jack Fletcher |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Colin Ellis |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Tom Telian |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Brandon Snyder |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Kevin O'Connell |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
James Ingram, Jr. |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Ben Cairns |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Micah Scobie |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|||||
|
Totals |
41 |
16 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
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