'Dogs take out frustrations on Vikings

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

After two weeks of getting shut out of the end zone, the Bulldogs made up for lost time in Friday's homecoming football game against Bigfork.

Only 14 seconds had ticked off the game clock when senior safety Alex Elespuru, having made the switch from quarterback to defense during the week, recovered a fumble and took it to the house to put the Bulldogs on the board and whip the crowd into a frenzy.

It was the first of eight touchdowns for Whitefish, who put the hurt on Bigfork 55-18 in the Northwestern A conference opener for both squads.

Sophomore Mac Roche, making his first varsity start at quarterback, then hit Aaron Tkachyk for two touchdown passes of 68 and 24 yards to give the 'Dogs a 21-0 lead.

Derek Crittenden broke a couple tackles for a huge 41-yard TD run to follow that up, and the rout was on. The Bulldogs led the whole game and never let up.

"We really jumped on them early," head coach Patrick Dryden said. "I didn't think our offense really clicked, but we made some big plays. We had been struggling offensively, so it was nice to have that monkey off our back 14 seconds into the game."

For Bigfork, quarterback Christian Ker and wide receiver Cheyne Valentine connected for all three touchdowns. Going into halftime, the score was 21-12 and the Vikings looked like they were going to make the game interesting.

The Bulldogs opened it up in the second half when Matt Whitehead made a circus catch down the far sideline. A Bigfork defender got his hands on the ball, but Whitehead, running backwards, got a few fingers on it, bobbled it a few times, then hauled it in and turned to find pay dirt.

The 65-yard touchdown pass seemed to take the wind out of the Vikings' sails. Whitehead finished with five catches for 100 yards in the game.

Running back Daniel Simmons, returning from injury, racked up 120 yards on the ground for Whitefish. The Bulldogs finished with around 200 yards of air attack and 200 yards on the ground, according to Dryden.

"We were pretty balanced," he said. "Tanner Benedict will be back for us next game, as well as Willie Roche, so that will be a big help. Jesse Strunk is lost for the season with a torn ACL, so it's going to be good to have some more running backs."

Getting Simmons back was a big boost for the Bulldog offense, Dryden said.

"He cuts back well and has great vision," Dryden said. "That was a big shot in the arm for the team."

Whitefish defensive end Josh Backer had a 39-yard interception return for a TD in the second half, and Crittenden and Elespuru both scored on rushing touchdowns. Elespuru finished the night 7-for-8 on PAT kicks. The only negative for Whitefish was the 110 yards of penalties they accrued.

"We're going to have to clean it up as far as penalties," Dryden said.

The Vikings abandoned their running game in the first quarter, as the Bulldog defense swarmed to the ball carrier.

"We were geared to stop their running game," Dryden said. "We took away their sweep, which they like to run. We're going to have to have more intensity on defense in the next few weeks. We had some breakdowns in the secondary, but there are things we can easily fix."

Dryden said the big plays seemed to jump-start his team, as well as get the large homecoming crowd going.

"The atmosphere was fantastic," he said.

The Bulldogs will head to Ronan on Friday (tomorrow) for the Chiefs' homecoming.

"They are a Jekyll and Hyde team," Dryden said. "They've got some speed, and they've been hitting the big plays. They beat Hamilton, a very good team, and then got manhandled by Columbia Falls this last weekend. So they seem to play better at home, which is where we have to face them, unfortunately."

Kickoff against Ronan is set for 7 p.m.

Bigfork 0 12 0 6 - 18

Whitefish 21 21 6 7 - 55

Whitefish — Alex Elespuru 26 fumble recovery (Elespuru kick)

Whitefish — Aaron Tkachyk 68 pass from Mac Roche (Elespuru kick)

Whitefish — Tkachyk 24 pass from Roche (Elespuru kick)

Whitefish — Derek Crittenden 41 run (Elespuru kick)

Bigfork — Cheyne Valentine 41 pass from Christian Ker (kick failed)

Whitefish — Matt Whitehead 65 pass from Roche (Elespuru kick)

Whitefish — Josh Backer 39 interception return (Elespuru kick)

Bigfork — Valentine 19 pass from Ker (pass failed)

Whitefish — Crittenden 5 run (kick failed)

Whitefish — Elespuru 21 run (Elespuru kick)

Bigfork — Valentine 48 pass from Ker (run failed)

Bf Whs

First downs NA NA

Rushing-yards NA 29-219

Passing yards NA 192

Passing NA 7-13-3-0

Penalties NA 11-110

Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0

Individual Stats

Rushing — Daniel Simmons 18-120, Derek Crittenden 3-49, Alex Elespuru 3-32.

Passing — Mac Roche 7-13-0-192.

Receiving — Aaron Tkachyk 2-92, Matt Whitehead 5-100.