The
Bulldogs suffered an early scare on Saturday but eventually wore down a
tenacious TriValley team and pulled away with a 3 touchdown fourth
quarter.
TriValley’s tailback Danny
Knox ran for 95 yards on 18 carries, but he appeared near unstoppable early in
the game. His inexperienced line was giving him a bit of room, and he was
extremely talented at finding the daylight. Fast, quick-footed, agile, and
tough, Knox was one of the better RB’s Delhi has faced in quite a while. Knox
made even our best tacklers look lead-footed on a couple of
occasions.
While Knox was gaining good
yardage on most plays where he ran the ball, some incomplete pass attempts and
some sacks allowed Delhi to hold TriValley on downs a few times, and hold them
to one first half touchdown.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s offense
was struggling nearly as much as the defense. Delhi was able to complete a
couple nice passes to Taylor Sohns for good yardage, but the running game was
stifled for most of the first half. TriValley, going up against an offensive
line that opened up over 400 rushing yards the previous week, gave Delhi fits
with a crowded line of scrimmage with no room to run. Delhi finally got some
good rushing yards in on the last possession of the first half, but a TriValley
interception in the end zone ended the Bulldog threat. The first half ended with
TriValley leading 7-0.
The
‘Dogs came out much stronger in the second half, bullying their way downfield en
route to an 8 yard Nate Rockefeller touchdown. The offensive line began taking
much greater charge of the game at that point.
Some much improved defense
and tackling allowed Delhi to get the ball a few more times, and Brenton Hood
made the best use of it with touchdown runs of 34 and 56 yards, devastating
TriValley’s hopes for a win. Rockefeller again showed some good hardnosed
running, even though he was struggling with cramping during much of the warm,
dry day. Chad Rockefeller provided a couple of great runs as well, made possible
by punishing outblocks by pulling guard Mike Rama.
Geoff Rosa grabbed two more
interceptions, and returned the second for a touchdown, his second return for a
TD in 2 games.
Knox added a late game
touchdown run with Delhi heavy into its bench.
First
Quarter:
TriValley – Joe Garigliano 1
run (James Connolly kick)
Third
Quarter:
Fourth
Quarter:
TriValley – Danny Knox 26
run (kick failed)
Delhi rushing: Brenton Hood 13-131, 2 TD; Nate Rockefeller 16-102, 1 TD; Chad Rockefeller 2-44; Josh Wake 8-31 1 TD; Jason Wake 4-10; James Card 2-8; Tyler Aitkens 1-0; Pat O’Connell 2-(-5)
TriValley rushing: Danny Knox
18-95, 1 TD; Ryan VanLeiu 2-6; Dan Walter 2-4; #30 1-3; Joe Garigliano 7-(-4), 1
TD
TriValley passing: Joe Garigliano
6-16, 67 yards, 2 INT
TriValley receiving: Danny Knox 3-34; Max Fiedler 1-20; James Connolly 2-13
Delhi Tackles: (tackles-assists) Jeremiah Warren 6-1; Nate Rockefeller 4-3; Jeff Daye 4-3; Chad Rockefeller 4-1; Josh Wake 4-1; Taylor Sohns 4-0; Geoff Rosa 3-3; Alex Fletcher 3-3; Kevin Rossley 3-1; Derek Plance 2-3; Mike Rama 2-2; Milan Sova 1-2; James Card 1-1; Jason Wake 1-0; Micci Mason 1-0; Evan Cook 0-1