Bulldogs halt Silverstreak’s 20-6

Don Cogger

Published Friday, August 29, 2008

The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs began their 2008 campaign in fine fashion, defeating the visiting Osakis Silverstreaks 20-6 Thursday night in Battle Lake.

Senior quarterback Erik Smith led the way for the Bulldogs, rushing for 103 yards on 22 carries while completing three passes for 38 yards.

“Erik’s been a three-year starter for us, and he really played well,” said Head Coach Don Seipkes. “He’s got to be the leader for us on offense and make things happen. He also plays free safety for us and comes up like a ton. You definitely know he’s out there.”

The Bulldogs’ offense sputtered a bit early, going three-and-out on their first possession. They settled down quickly, however, scoring their first touchdown on a two-yard plunge by Smith late in the first quarter, set up by a botched snap on an Osakis punt, giving the Bulldogs excellent field position. Osakis scored their only touchdown on the night in the second quarter on a five-yard run by Derek Waldvogel. The point-after was wide.

The Bulldogs went to halftime leading 7-6.

“I was not happy with our performance in the first half,” Seipkes said. “We had too many turnovers (three, with two lost), and we had a heck of a time containing that Osakis defensive line. They were just awesome.”

The second half was more to Seipkes’ liking, as the Bulldogs offense focused on controlling the ball, eating up a lot of clock in the process. Their first two drives consisted of 11 plays and 19 plays, respectively, keeping the ball out of the Silverstreaks’ hands.

“Our offense line did a great job in that second half of allowing us to run the ball effectively,” Seipkes said.

When Osakis was able to take possession, inside linebackers Blye Dalluge and Kyle Owings and sophmore defensive tackle Shelby Trosdahl were there to supply the big stops when needed.

“I’m really impressed by how well our defense played tonight,” Seipkes said. “Osakis has some great athletes, and we have some young guys up front. Blye and Kyle fought and scraped and made some big plays at that middle linebacker spot.”

Smith scored once more on a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter, to cap off scoring for both teams. All in all, Seipkes liked the result.

“I definitely liked what we did in the second half better than the first,” he said, laughing. “We just have to work on playing with that kind of intensity the whole game.”