Bulldogs fall short against Hamilton
On the road, down by one, time running out — Whitefish went all in.
But under partly hazy skies lit by Friday night lights, the Bulldogs fell just a few yards short of escaping with a victory at Hamilton. Whitefish failed to convert a two-point conversion with 47 seconds on the clock as the Broncs took the 28-27 nonconference Class A football win.
Whitefish (1-1) pulled within a point after freshman quarterback Luke May hooked up with Logan Harwood on a 26-yard TD pass on fouth-and-long. The pass on the ensuing two-point conversion, however, fell incomplete.
Bulldog coach Chad Ross said he knew the team was going for two points before they even scored the TD.
“With a game on the road, we wanted to get it done there,” he said. “We went for two the last time we scored and it was easy — boom, boom.”
The kicking game wasn’t a sure-thing, either, Ross said. Whitefish was 1-1 on point-after attempts in the game.
“We had the momentun,” Ross said about the decision to go for two. “I have a lot of confidence in our two-point plays. But that’s football.”
While it’s easy to Monday-morning quarterback the decision to go for two, what killed the Bulldogs’ chances Friday were the relentless penalities.
“We were undisciplined and beat ourselves,” Ross said, bluntly.
Whitefish had 90 yards in penalities in the second half. Three of Hamilton’s scoring drives were kept alive with Whitefish penalities.
“We need to fix that if we want to compete in the conference,” Ross said. “You’ve got to give credit to Hamilton. They took advantage of the opportunities we presented to them.”
The Bulldogs stistically dominated the game, Ross said.
“Without so many penalities, the game wouldn’t have been close,” Ross said. “We are a good team, but we need to be more disicplined if we want that to reflect in the score — or it’s going to be a rough year.”
Ross said he’ll challenge the seniors this week to lead by example.
He commended senior running back Shane Marcial for stepping up as captain.
“Shane continues to lead by example,” Ross said.
Marcial tallied 90 yard on the ground on 19 carries.
May was again solid in the pocket, finishing 13 for 21 with 134 passing yards. He also picked up 94 yards rushing.
Reciever Walter Holliday pulled in five catches for 62 yards. Harwood finished with 46 yards on five catches and two TDs.
Ross again commended the freshman, namely Chris Park who stepped up on defense and special teams.
Whitefish 0 7 6 14 – 27
Hamilton 7 14 0 7 – 28
H – Josh Bauder 1 run (Reese Isherwood kick)
H – Kris Cleveland 23 pass from Bauder 23 (Isherwood kick)
WF – Luke May 1 run (James Bailey kick)
H – Cleveland 25 pass from Bauder (Isherwood kick)
WF – Logan Harwood 13 pass from May (kick failed)
WF – Sean Foley 25 pass from May (Foley pass from May)
H – Bauder 1 run (Isherwood kick)
WF – Harwood 26 pass from May (pass failed)