Swanton Bulldogs Football: Program News: News and Announcements 9-20-09

* Bulldogs Defeat Montpelier *

SWANTON -  Despite a slow start by the Bulldogs this past Friday night, the Bulldog's coaching staff and players stayed persistent and made the comeback to win 24-13 over the Montpelier Locomotives at Hansbarger Stadium for their first victory of the season. At the beginning of the game, things did not look good for the Bulldogs as they quickly fell behind to the visiting Locomotives 14-0. Following the 2^nd score by the Locomotives, the Swanton offense was jump-started by some great runs by junior tailback Darnell Hinds and sophomore Quarterback Travis Hilton and then a huge 55 yard pass from Hilton to senior wide receiver Kaylan Gilliam. The big pass would set up a 2 yard touchdown run by Darnell Hinds followed by a successful extra point by senior kicker Nick Yunker.

The Bulldogs continued to mix in the run with the pass in the first half. Tom Leahey, Darnell Hinds, and Travis Hilton all contributed to the run game to attempt to wear down the Locomotive defense. Hilton would then continue his air assault by hitting sophomore tight end/fullback Mimmo Lytle with a 12 yard pass followed by Hilton connecting with Kaylan Gilliam again for another 12 yards. Following a couple runs that were stuffed by the Montpelier defense, Hilton connected with senior wide receiver Louis Miller for a 20 yard touchdown pass to swing the momentum back in the favor of the Bulldogs.

The second half became a defensive battle between the two teams as they exchanged series of 3 and outs. The Locomotives refuse to quit while the Bulldog defense stepped up to force a punt that would start the Bulldog offense on their own 20 yard line. The tough field position didn’t deter the Bulldogs as they continued to run the ball up to their own 35 yard line. Travis Hilton then once again went to the air by connecting with another big 85 yard pass to Louis Miller for a touchdown that would be the nail in the coffin for the Locomotives.  The Bulldog defense followed by forcing a 3 and out for the Locomotives which then led to the Bulldog offense pounding the ball with Mimmo Lytle and running the clock down to 00:00 for the victory.

Senior linebacker Cole Doren, senior defensive backs Kyle and Kaylan Gilliam, junior linebacker Taylor Evearitt, and senior defensive linemen Jacob Redfox all made strong contributions to the Bulldog defense to hold off the Locomotives. Nick Yunker also did a great job handling the punting and kicking duties for the Bulldogs. Hilton finished 9 for 11 with 2 touchdowns to Louis Miller for the Bulldog offense. 

The Bulldog’s coaching staff and players won’t have much time to celebrate as they are already back to work to prepare for their next opponent, the Archbold Bluestreaks this Friday, September 25^th at Archbold High School. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.

* Bulldog JV News *

    Unfortuantly this past Saturday's JV contest was cancelled due to Montpelier not being able to field a team. The next JV game will be Saturday, September 26 at 10:00am at Hansbarger Stadium against Archbold JV Bluestreaks.