After road blowout, Bulldogs look for fresh start

Homecoming game against Bigfork this Friday starts conference schedule

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

They were in contention after the first half, but the Whitefish Bulldogs couldn't hold on and ended up getting blown out by a talented Hamilton team 38-0 on Friday.

The Broncs led Whitefish 7-0 going into halftime, as the Bulldogs were able to contain the oversized Hamilton offensive line. After the half though, Whitefish was clearly outmatched.

Hamilton's Paul Donaldson recovered a fumble from the Bulldogs and ran it 64 yards back for touchdown to ice the game in the fourth quarter. Hamilton quarterback Eddie Anzo passed for three touchdowns, and the Broncs scored two rushing touchdowns as well.

"In the second half, things kind of got away from us," head coach Patrick Dryden said. "We had a couple guys get banged up, unfortunately."

Dryden said his team ended up with only two positive yards of rushing offense for the game because a couple sacks negated about 20 yards on the ground in the first half.

"We knew we weren't going to be able to run consistently against them," Dryden said. "We were playing catch-up in the second half, so we started throwing it. We just didn't consistently move the ball. We had some opportunities."

Whitefish ended up with 152 yards through the air.

Dryden said Kalin Hale, a junior cornerback, stepped in for an injury and performed admirably. Dylan Dryden and Derek Crittenden played with a lot of intensity on defense, and the Bulldogs pinned Hamilton down inside the five-yard line on a couple of punts.

"Other than that, there weren't a lot of bright spots," Dryden said.

The Bulldogs take on the Bigfork Vikings at home this Friday night for the Homecoming game. It will also be the first Northwestern A conference game for Whitefish.

"We're excited to start our conference schedule at home," Dryden said. "The kids are kind of tired of going on these road trips, and we are hopefully going to have some guys back from injury."

Dryden said he expects his squad to match up well against the Vikings, who come into the game 0-3. Conference games are always heated, and Dryden said he doesn't want to overlook any opponent.

Kickoff for the Homecoming game is set for 7 p.m.