Broncs run all over the Dogs

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

On Friday night, the Whitefish Bulldogs went up against a big, physical football team in Hamilton, and the score reflected it. Whitefish was shutout 0-40, and four turnovers by the Bulldogs didn’t help at all.

The game marked the end of a brutal non-conference schedule for the Bulldogs, who now stand at 0-4. The four teams they have lost to will all probably make the playoffs.

Hamilton, 3-0, might have been the toughest team out of the four, as they have outscored their three Northwestern A opponents 139-7 this pre-season.

The Bulldogs simply didn’t have an answer for Hamilton senior running-back Ryan Turley, who led the Broncs with 182 yards and four touchdowns. Junior fullback Brady Anderson had 84 yards and a score as well.

“They’re a very talented team,” head coach Patrick Dryden said. “We got off to a bad start, got pushed around and turned the ball over.”

The Broncs’ lineman just pounded the Bulldogs all night, physically overpowering the undersized Whitefish defense in every phase of the game, whether it was pass protection or the rushing attack.

The Bulldogs had a fairly miserable offensive outing, with the exception of a few big pass plays that didn’t turn into points.

The Bulldogs were held to just 34 yards on the ground in 21 attempts, but Alex Elespuru threw for 126 yards, with two interceptions. He was also sacked twice.

“We executed really well at times,” Dryden said. “But it seemed like we always had one person blowing their coverage. We’re going to have to fix that.”

The Broncs converted three third-down-and-short plays in their first two possessions, but they were able to run straight up the middle every time to get the first down.

Senior receiver Byron Whitcomb led Whitefish with five catches for 75 yards. The crowd roared when he hauled in a 56-yard pass on the Bulldog’s first possession of the second half, but he was tackled from behind at the 4-yard line.

Hamilton, however, stopped the Bulldogs’ attempt to run it into the end zone, and the field-goal attempt was blocked. Whitcomb has 14 catches for 188 yards on the season.

Cody Morris had a nice leaping interception for the Bulldog defense, but again the offense failed to capitalize on the gift.

The Bulldogs were missing three key players for the night — senior running-back Aaron Tkachyk, senior center Kevin McDowell and lineman Derek Crittenden.

Dryden said he expects those players to be back on the field and healthy when they start their Northern Class A schedule against 0-3 Bigfork on Friday. One of the teams will get their first victory of the season, and Dryden is still confident about his team.

“It will be the first time we’ve been at full strength since the opening kickoff of the season,” Dryden said. “That’s a positive.”

Hamilton 14 6 7 13 - 40

Whitefish 0 0 0 0 - 0

First Quarter

H - Ryan Turley 25 run (Ben Kirkendall kick), 7:53

H- Brady Anderson 3 run (Kirkendall kick), 5:33

Second Quarter

H- Turley 11 run (kick failed) 9:52

Third Quarter

H- Turley 3 run (Kirkendall kick), 4:27

Fourth Quarter

H- Turley 3 run (kick failed), 9:55

H- Chase Mildenberger 10 pass from Justin Bourne (Kirkendall kick), 5:15

First Downs Ham. WF.

Total net yards 373 160

Rushes-yards 44-311 21-34

Passing 62 126

Punt Returns 2-49 0-0

Kickoff Returns 2-49 5-54

Interceptions 2-37 1-0

Comp-Att-Int 8-9-1 11-21-2

Sacked-yds lost 0-0 2-8

Punts 2-38.0 2-44.5

Fumbles lost 2-1 5-1

Penalties yds. 8-78 1-10

Individual Statistics

WF Rushing - Matt Starr 7-16, Brad Nielson 2-11, Alex Elespuru 5-8, Jesse Strunk 6-6, team 1 (-7).

Passing - Elespuru 11-20-2-126, Daniel Simmons 0-1-0-0.

Recieving Byron Whitcomb 5-75, Seth Wiley 3-44, Starr 2-8, Tyler Mason 1-7.

Missed Field Goals, WF Nielson 26 (BLK)