The Becker Bulldog football team rode the Carter Callahan train Saturday as they trounced the St. Cloud Apollo Eagles 51-7 in the Section 8AAAA semifinals at home.

Callahan finished with five touchdowns and 172 yards on 19 carries.

The win moves Becker into the section championship against #3-seeded Detroit Lakes, who eked out a win over  Rocori, 21-20 the same day.

Apollo came into Saturday’s matchup on a two-game win streak and a 5-4 record. The undefeated Bulldogs dispatched the Eagles early and coasted to the easy win to head into the championship game Friday night in Alexandria.

Three scores in the first quarter and two in the second, put the Eagles in a tailspin that they never recovered from. Callahan scored four straight TDs and Kicker Zach Bengtson converted a 27 yard field goal to send Becker to a 30-0 lead at halftime. By the time Apollo scored in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were holding a 51-0 lead and had their second-stringers getting some time on the gridiron.

Kabir Bhakta scored from 18 yards out to start the third quarter and Callahan tallied his fifth TD moments later on a three yard score. Adam Jurek capped off the scoring late in the third with a five-yarder.

Becker QB Ryan Bengtson was efficient as he completed 10-of-16 passes for 135 yards, including a 30-yarder to Landen Goebel. Jurek finished with 49 yards on seven carries and the one score and Bhakta had 37 yards on five carries and his one score.

Goebel finished with four catches for 84 yards and Alex Weiss had three catches for 39 yards.

The defense stood on their heads again, giving up just the one late score. Ethan Anderson had five tackles and two assists to lead the team. Joseph Goth had five tackles and one assist. Dylan Weber had three solo tackles.

Becker finished with 67 plays run while Apollo had 53. The Bulldogs amassed 467 yards compared to Apollo’s 199. Becker was 70% on third downs (seven-for-10) while Apollo was just two-for-10.

Apollo had three turnovers compared to just one for the Bulldogs.

The Section 8AAAA championship game was played in Alexandria Friday night at 7 p.m. and a full report on the game will appear in next week’s edition of the Patriot.

Detroit Lakes is 6-3 and is on a three-game win streak. After starting the season 2-2, the Lakers won four of five. Their wins have come against East Grand Forks, Thief River Falls, Pequot Lakes, Park Rapids, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Rocori.

Becker is on a 9-0 run in which they’ve beaten Rocori, Delano, Chisago Lakes, Hutchinson, Big Lake, Monticello, Apollo (2x) and Willmar.

Should the Bulldogs win, the state quarterfinals begin Nov. 11-13 at various sites and the semifinals and Prep Bowl will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium Nov. 18-20 and Nov. 26-27.