The
Bulldogs came into week 3 needing a win to grant them an initial strong place in
the playoff race, and the boys delivered in an exciting game that went right
down to the last minute.
Delhi played a frustrating
first half. After forcing a Unatego punt on the first possession, the ‘Dogs
proceeded to fumble the ball away before even getting a single first down. The
second possession went much the same, with Delhi getting one first down but then
fumbling again. A while later, on the back of some excellent running by Brenton
Hood, Delhi managed to push the ball down inside Unatego’s 10 yard line. The
turnover bug hit again, as another fumble gave Unatego the ball on their 2 yard
line. An interception a while later capped a maddening half of turnovers.
Fortunately for Delhi, the
defense was putting up a very solid effort, even though Unatego had the ball in
Delhi territory for most of the first half plays. They could only hold for so
long however, and Unatego was finally able to get into the endzone on an 8 yard
pass from Kevin Campbell to Joe Innes in the second
quarter.
Delhi held the ball much
better in the second half, and another long drive resulted in a 7 yard touchdown
run by Hood. The momentum was swinging in Delhi’s direction. After Unatego took
over following the kickoff, a pass across the middle was tipped by linebacker
Geoff Rosa, and he managed to find his own tip and pull it in for his
4th interception of the season. The ‘Dogs took over, and Hood
accelerated through the pack and turned on the jets to pull away for a 50 yard
touchdown run, his 7th of the season, and his 5th of
greater than 30 yards. The 2 point conversion missed by less than a foot, so
Delhi was up 14-7.
Unatego showed some great
resilience by coming out with a great drive of their own. After the kickoff,
they proceeded to move down the field consistently, getting several first downs.
They got some of the only good rushing attempts of the day on this drive. They
took nearly half of the 4th quarter in driving the ball to the Delhi
5. Delhi rose to the occasion, and brought Unatego to a 4th and goal
from the 11, but Campbell threw a near perfect pass to Innes just by Jason Wake
for the score. Matt Shelton’s kick was wide right however, and the Bulldog
lead was preserved at 14-13 with 6:31 to play.
Delhi came out needing to
kill the clock, and they did a good job at that for a while. With all of the
attention on Hood, Nate Rockefeller came out with some hardnosed running,
getting several Delhi first downs, and killing much of the clock. After Delhi
got well inside Unatego territory, the Spartans defense stiffened. A
4th down and 4 play turned into a 4th down and 9 after a
delay of game penalty, and Delhi was not able to convert.
Unatego got the ball back
with 1:45 left, and began driving again. Several passes got them into Delhi
territory, and it was a race against the clock. Delhi finally got it done for 4
plays however. A couple incompletions and a sack brought a 4th and
long, and a great catch at the 10 yard line was ruled out of bounds. Delhi got
the ball with 25 seconds left and ran out the clock.
Second
Quarter:
Unatego – Joe Innes 8 pass
from Kevin Campbell (Matt Shelton kick)
Third
Quarter:
Fourth
Quarter:
Unatego – Innes 10 pass from
Unatego rushing: Allen Knowlton
10-30; Matt Newman 6-20; Steve D’Angelo 2-11; Austin Henchey 7-10; Kevin
Campbell 11-8
Unatego passing: Campbell 11-24,
109 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Unatego receiving: Joe Innes 5-45, 2 TD; Newman 2-32; Jim Simonds 2-19; Owen Moss 2-13
Delhi Tackles: (tackles-assists) Geoff Rosa 6-3; Jeff Daye 5-7; Nate Rockefeller 5-4; Josh Wake 5-1; Jason Wake 5-1; Alex Fletcher 5-1; Taylor Sohns 4-3; Jeremiah Warren 4-2; Kevin Rossley 2-1; Chad Rockefeller 1-4; Derek Plance 1-2;