Bulldog Football Wins Defensive Slugfest Over Cowboys

Hampton-Dumont-CAL (HDCAL) football defeated the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Cowboys 7-6, in a defensive battle on Friday, September 5. It was an impressive game from the Bulldogs defense, as the Cowboys were coming off a game versus Belmond-Klemme in which they ran for over 450 yards. The Bulldogs forced a fumble on the Cowboys first drive of the game, but failed to score in the red zone after losing a fumble themselves. The Bulldogs offense struck first, after a 36-yard touchdown run from junior Joseph Powers late in the first quarter gave the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead. Powers gave the credit to his offensive lineman on the touchdown run.

"I want to give all my thanks to all my blockers," Powers said. "Moddon Evans, Emmett Elling, Josh Wohlford, Briggs Gruelke and Hudson Hansen all set beautiful blocks. Brady Harr and Ryder Strother on the outside also set amazing blocks. I want to give my props to them."

Powers finished with 162 rushing yards on 18 carries. Neither team scored in the second quarter and the Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead into halftime. After the members of the Class of 2025 Hampton Hall of Fame were introduced at halftime, the defensive battle continued into the second half of the game with neither team scoring in the third quarter. The Cowboys finally broke through late in the fourth quarter with a nine-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 7-6. The Cowboys tried to go for two and take the lead instead of settling for the tie, and the Bulldogs stuffed the attempt to preserve their 7-6 lead. The Bulldogs offense was able to put together a strong and physical drive to run out the last four minutes of the game and secure their first victory of the season. Bulldogs head coach Cole Miller was proud of how his team pulled out a hard fought victory.

"It was a really gutsy win," Miller said. "To see the defense have the guts to fight back and stop that two-point conversion was really cool to see. Then to turn it around and  drive the ball down on them and impose our will in the run game on that last drive was big time for us."

Sophomore Blaek Burmester started his first game at quarterback for the Bulldogs and he finished 9-of-12 passing with 98 passing yards. Senior Brody Strother was the Bulldogs leading receiver, catching six passes for 73 yards. Junior Hunter Rieken led the team in tackles with 7.5 and broke up the pass on the Cowboys two-point conversion attempt. Senior Ryder Strother and Powers recorded the two Bulldogs' tackles for loss. The Bulldogs move to 1-1 on the season and will play at Iowa-Falls Alden on Friday, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.