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Football Huddle

10/20/2012, 10:30am MDT
By Jeff Hansen - St. Albert Gazette

Bulldogs muzzled

It was close until the opening kickoff, then the roof caved in on the Bellerose Bulldogs in Thursday’s first-place showdown with the Bev Facey Falcons.

The defending Carr conference champions in metro Edmonton high school football whipped the Bulldogs 44-0 at Strathcona Athletic Park.

“We simply got beat in every facet of the game. They were better on offence, defence and special teams,” said Chad Hill, head coach of the 5-2 Bulldogs.

It went from bad to worse for the Bulldogs after they muffed the first kickoff and the offence huddled up at the Bellerose 12.

An unnecessary roughness penalty against the Bulldogs on Facey’s first drive gave the No. 3-ranked Tier I team in Alberta and extra opportunity to score.

Facey (7-0) led 14-0 after the first quarter and 29-0 at halftime.

The Bulldogs didn’t record a first down until the second quarter.

Facey also picked off two passes in the second half.

Facey’s triple option offence gave the defence fits with quarterback Brad Launhardt and running back Bryson Dobush doing most of the damage.

Launhardt also made some great plays when the Bulldogs had him on the run, but managed to scramble and find receivers.

The Bulldogs’ punt coverage team also struggled to contain Matt Nash. He gave Facey good field position with long runs the entire first half.

On defence, Ryan Shorten and Ben Graunke led the Bulldogs in tackles. Shorten also recovered a fumble in the third quarter.

Jacob Neuls and Billy Clapp also showed toughness playing both ways for most of the game.

The Bulldogs, ranked eighth in Tier 1, close out the regular season in Thursday’s must-win game against the Austin O’Brien Crusaders (4-3). Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Riel Recreation Park. Admission is $5.

A win would guarantee the Bulldogs a playoff spot. A loss would potentially create a three-way tie and the tie-breaking rules would determine the second, third and fourth place finishers for the Oct. 30 semifinals at Clarke Park.

The Bulldogs and St. Albert High Skyhawks (5-2) share second place, two points head of the Crusaders and Salisbury Sabres (4-3).

“This better be a wakeup call for us,” Hill said. “There is no time to dwell on the loss. We have to regroup and focus on AOB, who is looking strong once again.”

Tag(s): Bulldogs