The Becker Bulldog football team improved to 4-0 on the season with another impressive win over a highly-touted team in Willmar.

The final score was 45-14.

The Bulldogs began the game strong, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter to quiet the stands of the Cardinal fans.

Cody Klatt got Becker on the board first with a TD run of two yards at the 6:26 mark. Klatt made it two in a row when, with less than a minute to go in the opening quarter, reeled in a 15 yard pass from QB Zach Bengtson to make it 14-0.

Willmar got back into the game when they capped off two of their first series’ in the second quarter to tie it up at 14.

However, the Bulldogs pulled away late when Bengtson found Grayson Kipka from 40 yards out to put the score at 21-14. Then, with just 14 seconds left in the first half, Bengtson used his powerful leg to complete a 41-yard field goal to end the half at 24-14.

It was all Becker from there as the Bulldogs dominated the second half — particularly the third quarter — as they scored three more times through two passes and one run.

Klatt got his third TD of the game when he completed a drive with a seven yard dash to paydirt. Then, with just under five minutes left in the third, Bengtson  located Mitchel Soltau from 25 yards out to go up 38-14. In the waning seconds of the third, Bengtson had the same success — this time with Isaiah  Gardner from 25 yards out to complete the scoring at 45-14.

Bengtson finished with four TD passes and one interception on 15-of-23 passing for 215 yards. 

Gardener led the team on the ground with 77 yards on 14 attempts. Klatt had 32 yards on five attempts and three TD scores (one through the air).

Kyan Blomquist had six catches for 68 yards while Isaac Daluge had four for 31.

The defense was led by Kaden Nicolas, who had eight tackles.   Landen Kujawa had six tackles and one sack.

The Bulldogs accumulated 423 yards compared to just 194 for Willmar. Becker had 23 first downs to Willmar’s 12 and Becker ran 64 plays compared to just 44 for the Cardinals.

Up next, the Bulldogs host Hutchinson (3-1) for their homecoming game Friday at 7 p.m.