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Bulldogs stomp Saints Saturday

Bruce Tippets

Heading into the football game Saturday with the Jefferson Saints, Moffat County High School varsity coach John Haddan knew if his team played four quarters of football the Bulldogs would be in good shape.

The Bulldogs (1-1) did play four quarters of football to roll past the Saints (0-2), 49-6, at the high school field.

“I am real pleased with the effort we had from the kids today,” said Haddan. “We picked up the intensity from last week and we tried to rotate in some kids to keep them fresh and that paid off. Overall, the kids looked really good.”



The Bulldogs offense shredded the Saints defense for 510 total yards. Junior quarterback Jeff Gaylord finished the afternoon completing seven of nine attempts in the air of 127 yards and a touchdown.

On the ground, junior slot back Nathan Browning rushed for 78 yards, Gaylord for 75 and Counts finished with 65.



“The offense did do a nice job,” said Haddan. “We knew that it would. We spent a lot of time on it. It’s real good to get the first win of the season. Our kids love playing at home and we are really excited about the rest of the season.”

On defense, senior middle linebacker Kevin Field paced the team with 12 solo tackles and two quarterback sacks.

Senior defensive linemen Kurtis Kostur finished with eight solo tackes and senior linebacker Frank Counts had seven tackles.

MCHS wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Gaylord hit Browning for a 55-yard pass at the 10 minute and 55 mark of the first period. Sophomore kicker Chris Field nailed the extra point. Field finished the afternoon hitting seven for seven on extra points.

“Gaylord threw a perfect pass and I was wide open and just ran it in for a touchdown,” said Browning. “We finally got our offense going pretty good in the game and it felt good to get our first win of the season.”

Six minutes later, Browning scored his second touchdown when he ran from 22-yards out putting the Bulldogs in front, 14-0.

In the second quarter, the Saints cut the score to 14-6 after junior running back Gabe Apodaca ran in a touchdown from the 5-yard line. The Bulldogs blocked the extra point try.

MCHS scored one more time before half when Counts plunged in from the 4-yard line. The Bulldogs took a 21-6 lead going into the locker room.

The Bulldogs came out after intermission not letting up. The Saints’ first drive of the second half stalled. On fourth down, Jefferson tried to punt the ball, but senior middle linebacker Kevin Field broke through and blocked it, giving the Bulldogs the ball on the Saints 1-yard line.

One play later Counts dove over the goal line for the score.

A four-and-out series for the Saints gave the Bulldogs the ball on their own 40 after a punt. Five plays later, Chris Field found nothing but daylight, scampering 5 yards for a 35-6 Bulldogs lead.

The Bulldogs scored on its next possession as well. Gaylord went in for the score from the 1-yard line.

In the fourth quarter Field ended the Bulldogs scoring by rumbling in from 54 yards out.

“I feel that we played with a lot of intensity and emotion during the whole game,” said senior offensive lineman and defensive end Coalin Hume. “We played extremely well on defense just giving up six points. We pretty much dominated the game on defense. It’s great to play at home and we have five more home games coming up.”

The Bulldogs will face another stiff challenge when they host Durango Friday at 7:30 p.m at the high school field.


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