Becker got scores from six different players and the defense held their opponent without a first down for parts of three quarters as the Becker Bulldogs dominated the Benilde-St. Margarets Red Knights in last Saturday’s state quarterfinals.

 

Becker moved on to the semis with a 48-7 thumping of Benilde and faced Stewartville Friday night (see coverage of the Stewartville game in this Citizen edition).

 

The Bulldogs scored 21 points in the first quarter, 13 in the second and 14 in the third enroute to the big win. A late, insignificant TD score for Benilde spoiled the shutout, but the victory was sweet nonetheless.

 

Becker didn’t waste any time after receiving the opening kickoff at Osseo High School’s stadium, as they marched 60 yards  in 16 plays capped off with a three-yard TD run by Beau Pauly. QB Andrew Stanger utilized four tailbacks on the drive with Pauly gaining nine yards on three carries, Alex Meidt 16 yards on one carry, Gabe Dertinger 41 yards on six carries and 18 yards on three carries from Milan Kent.

 

The one and only downside to the game for the Bulldogs were the penalties — 10 times they were flagged for 73 yards . Fortunately, the game was never in question where such miscues could affect the outcome.

 

On a third down and seven on Benilde’s first possession, QB Will Whitmore tried to find RB Ricky Floyd in the flat, but Becker’s Pauly reached out to deflect the ball, then made a juggling catch of the ball for an interception.

 

The tone was set. And the Bulldogs wasted little time.

 

With the ball at Benilde’s 35 yard line, Stanger and the offense went to work and Meidt capped it off with a beautiful 25-yard TD reception to put the Bulldogs up by two scores.

In a surprise tactic that no one expected — especially Benilde — Cody Gruenhagen and the kicking team successfully pulled off an onside kick and the ball was back in the hands of the offense with 3:29 left in quarter #1.

 

On a controversial play, Stanger found Meidt from 36 yards out for what looked like a TD, but the referee ruled Meidt had stepped out of bounds before catching the ball and the penalty nullified the score.

 

Didn’t matter. Four plays later, Dertinger found paydirt as he rammed the ball across the goal line from six yards out to put the Bulldogs up 21-0.

 

Benilde’s problems got even worse on the next series. On first down, RB Ikenna Ujuaga lost one yard when Casey Vesledahl swallowed him up at the 39 yard line. The next play, Whitmore threw a lateral pass to Floyd who failed to catch it and Becker’s Tyler Schmitz jumped on the loose ball.

 

Becker ball again and it didn’t take long to capitalize.

 

On the third play of the drive, Kent took the handoff from Stanger at the 28 and eluded numerous defenders to score Becker’s fourth TD. The extra point was blocked and Becker led 27-0 with 10:40 left in the first half.

 

Another three-and-out for Benilde gave Becker the ball back at Benilde’s 41 with 9:22 to go. The Bulldogs drove to Benilde’s 29 before turning the ball over on downs when they failed to convert a fourth and 13 pass.

 

The Bulldogs put the nail in the coffin on their next possession when Stanger found Fobbe down the sidelines on their first play from scrimmage and he raced 62 yards to the end zone to put them up 34-0. Fobbe finished with two catches for 65 yards and the one score.

 

With the game all but over as the two teams headed off the field for halftime, the Becker defense was proud of the fact they had limited the Red Knights to zero first downs, -18 yards and had a fumble recovery and an interception as part of their first half expertise. It wasn’t until the eight minute mark of the third quarter did the Bulldogs surrender a first down to the Red Knights. Benilde finished the contest with just six first downs compared to Becker’s 23.

 

With the outcome of the game already determined, Head Coach Dwight Lundeen and his staff started funneling in some of the second stringers to replace the starters. But before that, Kent went out in style when he escaped a few Red Knight defenders and scored from 30 yards out at the 8:22 mark to put the ‘Dawgs up 41-0.

 

Jaylin Hildebrandt scored Becker’s final TD less than a minute later and the replacement players gave up an unimportant late TD to Cole Jacob to cap the scoring for the day.

 

The Bulldogs finished with 298 yards gained on the ground compared to just 13 for Benilde. Stanger had 140 yards through the air and three TDs and Becker finished the night with 438 total yards compared to just 125 for the Red Knights.

 

The Bulldogs scored on seven of their first nine drives of the game.

 

Dertinger was Becker’s top runner, gaining 115 yards on 16 carries and one score. Kent had 101 yards on nine carries and two scores.

 

The defense was led by Hildebrandt,  who tallied seven tackles.