Dogs Beat Henrietta 31-13; Send Homecoming Fans Home Happy

The stands at Bill Anderson Stadium were full of Homecoming fans Friday night as the Bulldogs hosted the Henrietta Beacats. The Dogs proved to be inhospitable hosts as they took it to the Bearcats from the opening kickoff and finished the game with a 31-13 victory. The Dogs showed what they can do when they aren’t shooting themselves in the foot. This was the second victory against a Bearcat team this season with one more left on the schedule…on the final night of the regular season against the Hawley Bearcats. 

Aiden Sarmiento got the game started for Stamford with a 13-yard return of the opening kickoff. The Bulldogs used a methodical 11-play drive to move 67 yards for the first score of the night. Slayden Young caught a pass from Mason Mueller, good for five yards and followed up with a run into the middle of the line for seven yards and a first down. Mahsyn Alvarado made a pretty catch that netted 17 yards and a first down at the Henrietta 38. Alek Hernandez had a 3-yard reception then the Dogs went heavy on the ground game. Mueller hit the middle for five and Josh Andruch converted a third-and-two with a 3-yard run. Andruch scooted down the Stamford sideline for 14 yards to the Henrietta 13. The Bearcat defense stiffened and runs by Andruch and Baylor Flow netted only two yards. Mueller looked for a target but found no one open. The senior quarterback pulled the ball down and ran for eight yards to the Henrietta 3-yard line. Andruch went into the end zone on the next play. Hernandez added the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Henrietta came back with an eight-play drive that featured two chunk plays. Cruse Coleman broke free for a 54-yard run that might have been a touchdown had Young not chased the Henrietta sophomore down at the Stamford 26. Coleman finished the night with 170 yards rushing and one touchdown on 20 attempts. Chaden Clark found Cooper Coleman with a 17-yard pass on the next play to push the football inside the 10-yard line. Blue’s defense made the Bearcats work for those final yards with the score coming on a 3-yard pass from Clark to Cr. Coleman. The extra point attempt failed so the Bulldogs still led by 7-6.

The first quarter had 3+ drives; the final drive ended in the second quarter. The first three drives all resulted in points.

Hayden Strand set the Bulldogs up at their own 43-yard line with a 14-yard kickoff return. It took five plays to travel the 57 yards needed for another touchdown. Big plays in the drive were a 19-yard pass play from Mueller to Hernandez and the touchdown pass of 23 yards to Levi Vahlenkamp. Hernandez made his kick to push the score to 14-6 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Jason Fugett’s kickoff return ended abruptly when he was hit by Bulldogs Kree McCright and Carlos Vega. The drive ended with a punt. The kick went sky high but benefited by a bounce and roll which nearly doubled the distance.

Mueller got the Bulldog drive started with a 3-yard keeper. After a penalty pushed the Dogs back, Mueller went to the air and found Young. The sophomore receiver scooped up the low ball to gin 28 yards to the Henrietta 30. Young made a 17-yarder to push the ball to the 14. Flow rushed three yards, but the drive stalled. Hernandez came out and lined up a 28-yard kick. The field goal was good to push the score to 17-6 in favor of the Bulldogs.

The Bearcats weren’t daunted by the score. They used a nine-play drive to move from their own 29 to the Stamford 25. Coleman was the main cog in the wheel with five rushes and one reception. Gage McDonald added catches of 14 yards and 10 yards. On both receptions the senior Bearcat went for extra yards after catch. Once the drive moved to the Stamford 33, things started bogging down. Vahlenkamp almost picked off a first down pass. Coleman was stopped for a short gain; then the Bearcats were flagged for holding which set up a third-and-19. Coleman followed a convoy of blockers for a 12-yard gain on a screen play. The Bulldogs got over-eager and jumped offside to leave the Bearcats facing fourth-and-two. As expected, Coleman got the call. This time the Bulldogs were ready and stopped the runner dead to turn the ball back to the Stamford offense.

Stamford took over with just under three minutes left in the half. The Dogs moved the ball 75 yards on eleven plays to keep the scoring stat clean, going 4-for-4 in the half. The drive mixed runs and passes almost evenly. Mueller and Andruch shared the rushing duties while Young took care of receiving. Young had catches of 9, 19, 7 and 21 yards. The final catch was stopped just short of a touchdown at the 1-yard line. Mueller was stopped just short, but Andruch pushed over for the touchdown. Again, Hernandez’s kick was true to push the score to 24-6.

There was just enough time for the kickoff and one play. Aiden Davis of the Bearcats might have wished the clock ran out. Davis caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage and was blasted by Alvarado.

The Bearcats received the football to start the second half but were unable to earn a first down. McCright sacked the Henrietta QB for a 9-yard loss on third down to force a punt. Stamford couldn’t move the ball either and punted the ball back to the Bearcats. A personal foul penalty against the Dogs at the end of the punt gave the visitors the ball at the Stamford 33.

Henrietta’s drive started with a promising 11-yard run by Coleman. The next three plays weren’t as rosy: an incomplete pass on a low ball; Coleman hit in the backfield by Vega; and Clark being sacked for a 7-yard loss. All was not bad as the Bearcat punt was downed at the Stamford 2-yard line.

The Bulldogs put on their scoring pants once again and used eight rushing plays in a 10-play drive to travel 98 yards to paydirt. Mueller and Andruch gave the Dogs some breathing room and a new set of downs. Strand found an opening in the middle of the field and Mueller hit the target. Strand wove his way downfield for a 30-yard gain. Mueller moved the football into Bearcat territory with an 8-yard run. Andruch followed with runs of 1 and 3 yards. Young caught a pass good for 14 yards and was dragged down deep into the Stamford sideline. Andruch broke free on the next play and galloped just inside the 10-yard line for goal-to-goal. Mueller kept for half the yardage needed. Young finished the drive with a 5-yard carry into the end zone. Hernandez added his seventh point with the PAT with just eight seconds left in the third quarter.

Coleman broke free for 28 yards on the Bearcats first play after the kickoff. The play might have resulted in a touchdown, but Taegan Pimpton showed remarkable speed for an interior lineman and chased the Henrietta runner down at the Stamford 46. Pimpton followed up with a sack of QB Clark. A third down pass for McDonald was almost picked off after it sailed over the receiver’s head. The Bearcats did pick up a first down on fourth down when Cooper Gee caught a 28-yard pass to the Stamford 27. Clark then looked for McDonald on three straight passes. The third time was not the charm for the Bearcats. Vahlenkamp stepped in front of the ball and secured the interception for the Bulldogs.

Stamford started at its 8-yard line. Flow worked the middle for 3 yards. Mueller found Hernandez who broke free of the first defenders and headed downfield. Hernandez raced 63 yards before being tackled. Unfortunately, the ball was knocked loose and was recovered by the Bearcats.

Henrietta used big plays through the air and on the ground in a 10-play drive. McDonald moved the ball into Stamford territory with a 17-yard reception while C’Nai Whitfield kept a death grip to insure no more yards were coming. Fittingly Coleman got the ball on the final two plays for the Bearcats. The sophomore back caught a 23-yard pass down the middle and closed out the night with a 14-yard run for the touchdown. Jose Lopez added the PAT to push the score to 31-13.

There was still 4:28 left on the clock when Stamford got the ball at their own 45. A holding penalty left the Bulldogs short of a first down despite having earned 11 yards on runs by Flow and Mueller. Young dropped back into punt formation, but he took off running and got the first down with a couple of yards to spare. Mueller made a nice fake to Flow but kept for an 8-yard gain to run the clock down to the 2:00 time out. Flow hit the middle for two yards. Then it was kneel down time and let the Homecoming festivities continue.

The Bulldog offense was so in sync that they only faced eight third downs all night and only two punts resulted. Of the two fourth downs faced (other than the punts), one was converted into a first down and the other was a successful field goal. Penalties and turnovers were also reduced. Add a stellar defensive effort and you have the recipe for a 31-13 victory to lead into an open date.

Following the open date on October 3 the Bulldogs will start District 4-2A DI play with a trip to the Cisco Loboes. 

Stamford     14    10   7    0  -  31   

Henrietta      6     0   0    7  -  13  

S – Josh Andruch 3 run (Alek Hernandez kick) 7:09

H – Cruse Coleman 3 pass from Chaden Clark (kick failed) 2:54

S – Levi Vahlenkamp 23 pass from Mason Mueller  (Hernandez kick) 0:42

S –  Hernandez 28 FG 8:13

S – Andruch 1 run (Hernandez kick) 0:25

S – Slayden Young 5 run (Hernandez kick) 0:08

H – Cruse Coleman 5 run  (Jose Lopez kick) 4:29

First Downs         20         18

Rushing Yards     38-158         24-152

Passing Yards      275               132

Total Offense      433               284

Comp-Att-Int     15-19-0        14-23-1

Punts                    1-28             3-31.7

Fumbles-Lost      2-1                1-0

Penalties-yards   6-45             4-30

Stamford: Mason Mueller 17-67; Josh Andruch 11-60, 2 TDs; Slayden Young 3-23, TD; Baylor Flow 5-14; Team 2-(-6). Henrietta: Cruse Coleman 20-170, TD; Chaden Clark 4-(-18). 

 Stamford: Mason Mueller 15-19-0, 275 yds, TD. Henrietta: Chaden Clark 14-23-1, 132 yds, TD.

Stamford: Slayden Young 8-120; Alek Hernandez 4-85; Hayden Strand 1-30; Levi Vahlenkamp 1-23, TD; Mahsyn Alvarado 1-17. Henrietta: Gage McDonald 6-61; Cruse Coleman 3-38, TD; Cooper Coleman 3-19; Cooper Gee 1-18; Aiden Davis 1-(-4).