The De Smet Bulldogs lit up the scoreboard in their first home game of the season on Friday, August 30th. De Smet defeated the Garretson Blue Dragons 72-21 in a game that ended at halftime on the 50-point mercy rule.
Slayten Wilkinson scored on the second play of the game on a 32-yard touchdown run. A made two-point conversion put the Bulldogs ahead 8-0. After forcing Garretson to punt, Ganon Henrich scored on the first offensive play on the next drive on a 38-yard touchdown run. Henrich scored again with 6:13 to play in the quarter on a 42-yard run. The Bulldogs led 22-0 at the halfway point of the first quarter.
Garretson got on the board after some big pass plays. They scored with 3:12 to go in the quarter on a six-yard touchdown pass. A made extra point cut the lead to 22-7. S. Wilkinson found the endzone again on a 15-yard run with 1:09 remaining in the quarter. He would score again with :22 remaining on a 27-yard touchdown run. Two made two-point conversions extended the Bulldog lead to 38-7. The Blue Dragons got a big play on the kickoff and scored on an 83-yard return to make the score 38-14. S. Wilkinson was not going to be outdone. He followed that with his own 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as time expired. After one quarter of play, De Smet led 44-14.
The scoring kept going in the second quarter. The Blue Dragons scored first in the quarter with 10:50 to play on a 23-yard touchdown pass. Another made extra point made the score 44-21. Thirteen seconds later, Henrich had a 49-yard touchdown run. He scored his fourth touchdown on a three-yard run with 6:10 too go making the score 58-21. With 4:05 Garretson was forced to punt near their own goalline. Gannon Gilligan was able to break through to block the punt, which fell into hands of Carter Wilkinson who was standing in the endzone for a touchdown. The final score came with 1:04 to go on a three-yard run by Gilligan.
The Bulldogs had 390 yards of total offense, all of them rushing yards. Garretson had 180 yards of offense, 176 passing yards and four rushing yards. Henrich had seven carries for 213 yards and four touchdowns. S. Wilkinson had nine carries for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Gilligan finished with four rushes for 18 yards and a touchdown. S. Wilkinson and Gilligan led the defense with 5.5 tackles each. Henrich had three tackles.
