The De Smet Bulldogs used a big third quarter to turn a 28-28 tie at halftime into a 64-28 win over the Florence/Henry Falcons in Henry on Friday, September 27th.
The first half was full of excitement for both teams. Ganon Henrich opened the game with a 47-yard touchdown run on the first offensive play of the night. A two-point conversion but the Bulldogs ahead 8-0. The Falcons responded and scored on their first drive of the game. They scored on a five-yard touchdown pass with 9:39 to go to cut the lead to 8-6. De Smet would fumble the ball away on their next two drives, and the Falcons capitalized on the second fumble. Florence/Henry took the lead, 12-8, on an eight-yard pass with 6:51 left in the quarter. The Falcons looked to go ahead by double digits in the closing seconds of the first quarter. On a second down and goal, a mis-snap resulted in a fumble recovered by the Bulldogs to end the quarter.
De Smet would drive down the field to start the second quarter, and Brody Halverson would score from one yard away with 9:15 to go in the half to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-12. Gannon Gilligan would added a three-yard touchdown run with 3:44 left in the half to extend the lead to 20-12. The Falcons tied the game with 1:49 left on a 33-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion. Seconds later Slayten Wilkinson had a 55-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion giving De Smet a 28-20 lead with 1:32 to go. Florence/Henry answered on their first offensive play with a 61-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion. The first half ended with a 28-28 tie.
The Bulldogs then showed in the second half they made the right adjustments at halftime. Wilkinson started the third quarter with a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown with 11:46 to play in the third quarter. Henrich had a 10-yard touchdown run with 8:28 left. Both two-point conversions were made to make the score 44-28. Three minutes later Wilkinson had a two-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 50-28. Gilligan added a seven-yard touchdown run with 2:22 remaining in the third. A two-point conversion extended the lead to 58-28.
Henrich scored the final touchdown of the game on a 65-yard run with 10:15 remaining in the fourth quarter for the 64-28 final score.
