Bulldog football go down fighting to Cougars

COLFAX - Coming off a tough first game for the Colfax Bulldogs, they asserted defensive dominance for just over three quarters against the Chewelah Cougars, before allowing 15 quick points, to lose 21-8.

"That's as good as the defense played in a long time, they really came up with a great game plan for Chewelah," said head coach Mike Morgan.

The struggles for the Bulldogs in the game once again was their offense. The Bulldogs produced only eight points in the game, with the touchdown coming with three minutes left on the last drive of the game for Colfax.

The first drive for Chewelah was a quick three and out for the Cougars, with two penalties forcing the Cougars into a tough spot. The Bulldogs, however, could not capitalize on their opening drive, going three-and-out as well.

The second drive for the Cougars saw them complete a 3rd and 16 play, as well as a 3rd and seven play to keep their drive going. They would score to lead 6-0 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

After a quick first quarter, the Bulldogs would get a fourth down stop, but punt away to the Cougars on their next drive.

Once again, the Bulldogs come up with a fourth down stop to retain possession of the ball.

On this drive, they picked up two first downs and made great progress on the field before getting stalled by a huge sack from the Cougars. The half would end with Chewelah leading 6-0.

The Bulldogs first drive on the second half ended in a deep punt for the Cougars, pinning them back to the 15 yard line. The Cougars made some progress, but eventually punted away. The third quarter would fly by again, with Chewelah leading 6-0 with 12 minutes to go in the game.

The Cougars would start the fourth quarter with a huge pass interference call going their way to set them up nicely, to which they would stall out, punting to the Bulldogs.

Seth Lustig, Colfax quarterback, threw a pass that bounced off the hands of a Bulldog receiver before ending up with a Cougar defensive player, giving possession back to Chewelah.

The Cougars only needed a few plays before scoring, pushing the lead to 14-0 with eight minutes left.

The Bulldogs had a nice kick return on the play to give them decent field position, but Lustig would throw his second interception of the game two plays later to the Chewelah defense.

The Cougars would score on the following drive to take the 21-0 lead with six minutes left.

For the Bulldogs, they scored on their last drive of the game. The drive lasted three minutes, and consisted of key catches from JP Wigen, as well as strong running to set up Lustig with the quarterback run. They would convert the two-point conversion, and trail 21-8 with three minutes left.

The Cougars would receive the onside kick, and get key first downs to ice the game, and win 21-8.

"Tonight, I thought we had moments and flashes of some good things going on, but you know I thought overall we really just played better," Morgan said in comparison to last week.

The Bulldogs will take a healthy and almost full team into their third straight home game of the season Friday, Sept. 15, against the Liberty (Spangle) Lancers. This will be the first district game for the Bulldogs this season, with the homecoming game for the Bulldogs set to kick off at 7 p.m.