Bulldogs down Blue Devils

Three Corvallis mishaps laid the foundation for a Whitefish win as the Bulldog football team improved its record to 2-0 with a 21-0 win over the Blue Devils Friday night at Memorial Field in Whitefish.

"Three turnovers — we capitalized on all three and converted them into touchdowns," Bulldog head coach Patrick Dryden said of his team's scores.

The Corvallis Blue Devils didn't have time to get off the ground in the first half. During their first possession, Whitefish's Danny Neff and Scott Yogodzinksi combined for a fumble/recovery eight minutes into the game, which set up the Bulldogs' first touchdown, a seven-yard run by Bulldog back Luke Fennelly.

Five minutes later, an interception by Whitefish's Byron Whitcomb laid the groundwork for another score. On that possession, the drive came to completion when the Bulldogs handed the ball off to Luke Fennelly, who ran it in for a touchdown.

"Luke's second touchdown run was pretty big," Dryden said. "It gave us some breathing room and got us rolling."

Five minutes into the second quarter, the Bulldogs got back to work. The Blue Devils missed a snap on a fourth-down punt, setting the 'Dogs up with good field position deep in Blue Devils' territory.

That drive ended with a Zach Fennelly touchdown run.

"Zach provides a lot of leadership for us," Dryden said. "He's a running threat and a passing threat."

Whitefish place-kicker Brad Nielson complimented the Bulldog offense, going 3-3 in point-after attempts.

Dryden commended other members of the special teams, noting that neither the kick returners nor the punt returners let the ball drop to the ground.

In the second half, the Blue Devils showed their mettle, limiting the Bulldogs to just three possessions.

Offensively, Dryden said his team was able to move the ball well in the first half, but was stymied in the second half and wasn't able to convert on big plays.

Dryden said one of the highlights was the way his JV offense played at the end of the game.

"They picked up two first downs and ran out the clock," Dryden said. "That left a good taste in our mouth."

When the Bulldogs offense slowed down, the Bulldog defense stepped in, stopping the Blue Devils from mounting a scoring drive and holding them to the line of scrimmage on must-win plays.

"Defensively, we gave up some yards, but we really rose to the occasion on fourth down," Dryden said.

Dryden said the hard-hitting matches against both Havre and Corvallis were a good introduction to the season.

"That was just what we needed," he said. "I felt like we improved from game one to game two. I expect improvement from game two to game three.

The Bulldogs take on the Bigfork Vikings at 7 p.m. at Memorial Field in Whitefish.

The last time the two teams played each other, the Bulldogs ran roughshod over the Vikings en route to a 35-11 victory.

Dryden said he expects the Vikings to put up more of a fight this time around.

"We watched their opening game — they have some really good athletes," he said. "Bigfork is a very dangerous team, and we have a lot of respect for them."

The Vikings are coming off a 38-6 loss to the Dillon Beavers.