Bulldog grid team rolls to 5-0

“Guys, this is going to have a happy ending.”

That was the assurance Coach Mike Morgan made to his Colfax football troops this week after they reviewed the first part of the video of Friday’s non-league game against Lakeside at Nine Mile. The first part of the tape showed a big and hungry Lakeside team pounding on the Bulldogs.

“Also, we made about 1,000 mistakes,” Morgan commented.

Lakeside posted a lead just before the half, scored two more TDs in the third quarter and had a 29-22 lead over the Bulldogs going into the final 12 minutes of the game. Things did not look good.

“From just before the half until two minutes into the last quarter, they had the lead,” Morgan reported.

It began to look like the Colfax early season win streak was about to end.

Then it changed. Colfax took control of the ball with about nine minutes left in the quarter, ran a clock eating offense at the Eagles, scored 22 points and returned home with a 44-29 win. The win streak is now at five games.

“I felt like if we could just get ahold of the ball and keep it we would have a chance,” Morgan said. He added Lakeside began to wear down.

Colfax regained the lead when QB Justin Berarducci hit Jay Hart on a pass option play for 10 yards. A two-point conversion pass from Berarducci to Alvin Li put the rally on track with a 30-29 lead over the Eagles.

“Actually, I was happy with that. I just wanted to run out the clock,” Morgan noted.

Colfax defense again stopped the Eagles, and the Bulldogs began their clock grinder. They moved the ball down the field while the scoreboard clock rolled down.

“We sort of left it up to Berarducci. He knew what we wanted to do, and he looked for the places to get the yards.

The ground pounder plays and an occassional play action pass moved the ball into the red zone, and the Bulldogs picked up another TD on a five-yard scamper by Li. Hart grabbed a two-point pass to expand the one-point Colfax lead to nine.

Another stop of the Eagle offense and another ground/clock eating campaign by Colfax added another six points on a short run by Berarducci.

Morgan noted the Bulldogs line pulled it off with Daython Maltone, a 270-pound junior, on the injury list. Tackles Arron Arneson and Cole Neu, who normally rotate with Maltone, worked straight shift in front of the Colfax possessoin game.

Li finished with 118 yards in 22 carries. He also scored two of the TDs in the first half. Berarducci hit 7-10-60 yards passing with all of those on short shots. Hart had five snags for 45 yards.

Colfax booked the first score when linebacker Cole Klaveano rushed through Lakeside’s unque spread punt formation, blocked the punt and recovered it in the end zone. Klaveano’s charge came after Li booked a punt on the Lakeside five. .

Eagle back Jimmy Day, as expected, led the Eagles with 217 yards. Day scored all four of the Eagle TDs. Their first score came on a 34-yard field goal hit by Race Phillips.

Next chapter for the Bulldogs will be another league showdown, this time with Lind/Ritzville/Sprague who will be the guests for the last scheduled home game. The Broncos will arrive after a 40-19 win over Kettle Falls in Friday’s league round.

Colfax and LRS have matching win streaks, 5-0 overall and 3-0 in league play.

Coach Greg Whitmore has installed the pistol offense at Ritzville with as many as four receivers on launch.

“They like to spread out the field and create a lot of pace,” Coach Morgan commented.

QB Dylan Hartz keys the Bronos’ attack. Hartz hit three TDs against Kettle in last week’s league win.

Chris Steinmetz and Connor O’Neil are among the running backs for the Bronco club.

Other scores in the league round last week included Davenport over Liberty 30-14 and Reardan over Springdale 35-20