A comeback by the De Smet Bulldog football team fell short against Stanley County on Friday, August 25th. The Buffaloes held for a 38-30 win.
Stanley County got on the board first about halfway through the first quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass. De Smet took the lead. 8-6, with 1:13 left in the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Britt Carlson and a made two-point conversion. Just mere seconds later, the Buffaloes were back in front, 12-8, after an 83-yard kick off return for a touchdown.
The Bulldogs regained the lead, 16-12, with 7:23 to play in the first half. Carlson had a two-yard touchdown run, and the Bulldogs converted another two-point conversion. Stanley County, however, got two scores before halftime. A 20-yard touchdown run with 3:36 gave them an 18-16 advantage. They also scored on a one-yard run with no time left in the half. A made two-point conversion gave the Buffaloes a 26-16 halftime lead.
De Smet pulled within two points, 26-24, with 9:53 to go in the third quarter on a 27-yard touchdown run by Ganon Henrich and a two-point conversion. The Buffaloes responded :20 later with a 70-yard touchdown pass and pushed the lead to 32-24. The Bulldogs again pulled within two points, 32-30, after another one-yard touchdown run by Carlson with 8:02 left in the third quarter. The score remained 32-30 going into the fourth quarter. The final score of the game game with 8:19 to play on a three-yard run by the Buffaloes.
De Smet finished with 309 yards of total offense, 178 rushing yards and 131 passing yards. Stanley County had 298 yards of offense, 184 rushing yards and 114 passing yards. The Buffaloes took advantage of four interceptions as well.
Carlson had 14 carries for 68 yards and three touchdowns. Trace Van Regenmorter had eight carries for 63 yards. Henrich finished with seven carries for 34 yards and a touchdown. Carlson was 6-16 passing for 131 yards with four interceptions. Kadyn Fast had three catches for 61 yards. Henrich had two catches for 22 yards, and Tom Aughenbaugh had a catch for 48 yards.
Gannon Gilligan had seven tackles on the defensive side of the ball. Fast finished with six tackles. Carlson had four tackles. Van Regenmorter had three tackles and a fumble recovery. Henrich and Tristan Olson both had three tackles each as well.
