The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Not even the rain could stop Haxtun's ground game Friday night as the Bulldogs rolled to a 60-14 win over West Grand at Adam Wernsman Field Friday night. The Bulldogs have racked up 126 points just two weeks into the 2021 football season with dominating wins in their first two contests. Haxtun outscored South Park and West Grand by a total of 112 points as the Bulldogs defense has allowed just 14 points in the two-game stretch.

Junior running back Michael Gerk and senior counterpart Isaac Andersen were unstoppable in the first half of action Friday night. The offensive duo put up an unanswered 40 points in the first 24 minutes of action.

Gerk scored three rushing touchdowns in the opening quarter, the first with a 15-yard run into the end zone. Five minutes later, Gerk found an opening for a 62-yard run to put his team up 16-0. Just before the end of the first quarter, he lined up at the one-yard line for one more score before heading into the second quarter. Haxtun led after one, 24-0.

It was all Andersen in the second quarter as he added two rushing touchdowns to the Bulldog's already impressive advantage. Haxtun's offense completed all six two-point conversions on Gerk and Andersen's touchdowns in the first half to hold onto a 40-0 lead at half time.

Freshmen Grant Statz and Ryland Wolff both made their way to the end zone in the third quarter, first with a six-yard run from Statz. Three minutes later, Wolff broke free for a 34-yard rushing touchdown to put his team on the board once more.

West Grand managed to put their first points on the board with just a minute left in the third quarter but the Bulldog defensive line held the Mustangs out of the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt.

Freshman Kaiden Schelling added Haxtun's final touchdown of the game mid-way through the fourth quarter with a nine-yard durn. Haxtun's point after attempt came up short, giving the team a final 60 points in the contest. West Grand scored once more with just a minute left in the game, leaving the score 60-14 at the final buzzer.

"We had a few mental breakdowns but the team as a whole responded well, I think the weather played into some of that," Head Coach JD Stone said of his team's effort Friday night. "I was pleased how balanced our running game was Friday, our offensive and defensive lines had a big week for the second week in a row."

Haxtun's offense racked up a total of 406 yards on the ground, nearly half of what the defense allowed for the opposing team. Gerk led the Bulldogs with 135 yards from seven carries with three touchdowns. He averaged 19.3 yards per carry. Andersen carried the ball seven times for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Andersen averaged 17.4 yards per carry.

Senior Owen Knode tallied 57 yards from two carries followed by Wolff with 53 yards from four trips with the ball.

Under center, Knode completed one pass to senior receiver David Avery.

Haxtun's defense held West Grand to a total of 235 all-purpose yards Friday night. Pressure on the Mustang's quarterback prevented him from completing a single pass.

Kailin Kelley led the Bulldogs with 11 tackles in the contest with West Grand; he earned those 11 from two solo and nine assisted tackles. Andersen and Statz each registered five tackles followed by Gerk, Keegan Colglazier and Maclin Tempel, each with four total tackles.

Osman Coss, Kelley and Tate all combined for four sacks on the Mustang's quarterback.

This week, the Bulldogs are set to host Wiley for a Friday night contest at Adam Wernsman Field. Kick-off is at 6 p.m. According to Maxpreps, the Panthers from Wiley will kick off their season in Haxtun on Friday.

The following week, Haxtun will begin league play as they host Caliche for a Saturday afternoon Lower Plains matchup.

"With league around the corner we need to tune up our passing attack to balance out our offense and clean up our gap control on defense," Stone said. "We are excited to get into league and play next week and start the grind of the Plains conference."