The Baltic Bulldog football team kicked-off the 2025 season on the road in Beresford on Friday, August 22nd. The Bulldogs hung tough, but the Watchdogs came away with the 27-12 victory.
Beresford got on the board first in the opening quarter. Dexton Miller scored on a nine-yard touchdown run with :52 to play in the opening quarter, which was the second drive for the Watchdogs. Payden Hoffman made the extra point for a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored on their third drive of the game early in the second quarter. After a couple of big plays, Aaron Nordbye scored on an eight-yard run with 10:53 in the first half. The two-point conversion was no good, and Beresford led by just one point, 7-6. The Watchdogs scored on their next possession. Malachi James ran for 46 yards for a touchdown with 8:45 to go. The extra point attempt was no good, and Beresford increased their lead to 13-6. Neither team scored again in the half.
Beresford added to their lead on their opening drive of the third quarter. James scored on another big run, this time from 34 yards, with 9:22 to play in the quarter. Hoffman made the extra point to make the score 20-6. After forcing the Bulldog into a turnover on downs, Beresford struck again. Hayden Schilling had a nine-yard touchdown run with 6:14 to play. Another made extra point extended the lead to 27-6.
The Bulldogs were able to add another score late in the ball game. Gavin Skotvold connected with Ben Erickson on a couple of passes for a total of 27 yards on a drive that set up a two-yard touchdown run by Jackson Goehring with 2:30 to play in the game. The two-point conversion failed for a 27-12 score.
Baltic finished with 130 yards of total offense, 103 rushing yards and 27 passing yards. Beresford had 294 yards of total offense, 196 rushing yards and 98 passing yards. The Bulldogs finished with 11 first downs in the game compared to 15 for Beresford.
Goehring had 13 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. Nordbye had eight carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Runestad added five carries for 26 yards. Skotvold was 2-6 passing for 27 yards. Erickson had both catches. Bradyn Hanson had six tackles in the game. Tyler Kennedy, Goehring, and Cooper Breyer all had four tackles each. Skotvold finished with three tackles. Trevor Cuperus had a fumble recovery.
