The De Smet Bulldogs opened the 9B playoffs with a big win at home on Thursday, October 19th. The Bulldogs defeated the Colome Cowboys 61-8.
It didn’t take long for De Smet to put points on the board. On their second offensive play, Britt Carlson threw a quick swing pass to Ganon Henrich, and Henrich took it 61 yards for a touchdown. The Cowboys answered right back scoring on their first offensive play, a 27-yard halfback pass. Colome also made the two point conversion, and the Cowboys led 8-7 with 10:57 to play in the quarter. The lead didn’t last long. Kadyn Fast scored on a 44-yard run to put De Smet back in front, 14-8. Carlson added a 29-yard run later in the first quarter. After a fumble recovery, Carlson connected with Tom Aughenbaugh for a 36-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs lead 28-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Fast got his second rushing touchdown, a 49-yard run, just 40 seconds into the second quarter. De Smet led 35-8 with 11:20 to go in the first half. Carlson added a 39-yard touchdown pass to Fast with 4:54 to play in the second. Gannon Gilligan had a five-yard touchdown run before halftime. Melville Deloye was 7-7 on his extra point attempts in the first half, and the Bulldogs led 49-8 at halftime.
Edger Wilkinson had a punt block and return for a touchdown with 8:49 to play in the third quarter. The game ended in the fourth quarter after a seven-yard touchdown run by Slayten Wilkinson.
De Smet will host Gayville-Volin in the quarterfinals on Thursday, October 26th at 7:00 p.m.