The De Smet Bulldogs offense got rolling about the midway point of the second quarter and surged past the Castlewood Warriors on Friday, August 18th. The Bulldogs opened the 2023 season at home with a 40-12 victory.
After a scoreless first quarter, Kaden Fast put the Bulldogs on the board with seven-yard touchdown run at the 7:55 mark of the second quarter. Castlewood promptly tied the game when they returned the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. The Warriors the recovered a fumble and turned that into a touchdown. Castlewood took a 12-6 lead with 6:36 left to play in the first half after a 27-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs, however, would take the lead before halftime with two more scores. Britt Carlson connected with Tom Aughenbaugh two times for touchdowns, one from 33 yards and one from 15 yards. De Smet made one two-point conversion and led 20-12 at halftime. Carlson made this third touchdown pass with 4:20 to go in the third quarter after a seven-yard pass to Ganon Henrich. Fast got his second rushing touchdown from one yard away in the fourth quarter. Carlson added a nine-yard rushing touchdown late in the game, and a made two-point conversion extended the lead to 40-12.
De Smet finished with 333 yards of total offense, 223 rushing yards and 110 passing yards. Castlewood had 154 yards of total offense, 94 rushing yards and 60 passing yards.
Carlson had 13 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown. He also was 7-14 passing for 110 yards and three touchdowns. Fast had 10 carries for 67 yards and two touchdowns. Trace Van Regenmorter added seven carries for 38 yards. Augenbaugh had three catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Henrich had two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown.
Van Regenmorter, Carlson, Gannon Gilligan, and Sam Gigov all had three tackles each. Tristan Olson finished with two tackles. Aughenbaugh also had an interception in the game.
