The Baltic Bulldog football team nearly had their third straight win on Friday, October 2nd. They led for the majority of the game, but a late rally by the Hanson Beavers gave the Beavers a 22-14 win.
The Bulldogs kept the ball for over five minutes in the opening drive of the game. They converted on a couple of third and long plays as well as a couple of fourth downs. On a fourth down, Henry Anderson connected with Bryce Campbell for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Anderson then completed a pass to Treylen DeHaven for the two-point conversion giving the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead with 6:46 to play in the first quarter.
Hanson’s first drive of the game took the rest of the first quarter and carried into the early portions of the second quarter. The Beavers drove to the Baltic goal line, but the Bulldog defense made three big goal line stands to keep the Beavers out of the end zone and force a turnover on downs. Hanson, however, would score on their next drive. With. 7:43 to play in the half, they scored on a 2-yard run. The two-point conversion was no good, and Baltic held an 8-6 lead. The score would remain 8-6 going into halftime.
The Beavers got the ball to start the second half. They drove the ball down to the goal line again, but they fumbled into the end zone. Aaron Nordbye recovered the football and returned it to the Baltic five yard line. On the very first offensive play for Baltic from the five yard line, Nordbye took the ball 95 yards for a touchdown with 6:22 to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs led 14-6. After each team had the ball again, Baltic punted the ball away and downed it at the one-yard line forcing Hanson to play in the shadows of their own end zone. The Beavers were able to get some room away from the end zone, and then with 1:17 to left in the quarter, they scored on a 75-yard run. The two-point conversion was good to tie the game 14-14.
The Beaver defense would hold the Bulldogs, and Hanson would get the ball back. They found the end zone again with 6:43 to go on a five-yard touchdown run. Another two-point conversion gave Hanson the lead for the first time in the game at 22-14. The Bulldogs were intercepted on their next possession with 5:12 to play in the game. The Bulldog defense showed up again and gave the offense another chance by recovering a fumble with 3:10 to play. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs, and Hanson was able to run out the clock for the win.
