For three quarters, the Becker Bulldog football game was competitive, hard-fought and low-scoring. Twelve minutes later, the Bulldogs walked off the field dejected after losing by two scores.

 

It was the second-straight home game the Bulldogs have lost and their record dipped to 2-2.

 

 

On a humid and warm night for late September, the Bulldogs received the kickoff and set up shop at their own 23-yard line. The Tigers held serve and after a three-and-out and a short punt, Hutchinson had the ball at the Becker 40.

 

Josiah Nelson (#31) was the workhorse in the first half for the Tigers and on his team’s first drive, he carried the ball three times for 17 yards to set up a 27-yard field goal for the first points of the game.

 

Becker’s Kevin Andres had a nice return on the kickoff, rambling 25 yards from the goal line to put Becker in business first and 10.

 

Enter Sydney Boros.

 

Boros gained two yards here, six yards there and another eight yards to get Becker to midfield. QB Josh Fobbe deked the Tigers as he dropped back to pass and hit Boros on a screen and the Sydney show took off. Boros evaded one sure tackler, then deked a couple others before burning rubber down the sidelines for a 50-yard score.

 

The Becker student section — all decked out in white attire  for their “white out” theme — screamed in jubilation as Becker jumped to a 7-3 lead with 4:02 to go in the first quarter.

 

Hutchinson went back to the ground game and dealt some more Nelson and threw in some Tyler Schiller while QB Lane Glaser craftily drove his squad downfield on their next possession. A big play on third and seven at Becker’s 33 was nullified by a penalty.  Glaser dropped back to let loose a long pass down to the Bulldog red zone and Sam Ricker stepped in front of the receiver and pulled in the interception for Becker.

 

The white out was blinding and deafening.

 

Boros did his thing again, gaining 11 yards in two plays to give Becker a first down at the 33 as the quarter expired. A couple incompletions meant the Bulldogs faced a fourth and four at the 40 yard line.

 

Fobbe, Becker’s punter, faked the kick and tried in vain to gain the first down stripe. He was unable to cross and the ball went back to Hutch at the 40.

 

Glaser took the game into his hands, completing a 12-yarder to Russell Corrigan, then rambled 19 yards on two consecutive plays to get the ball to Becker’s 25. Schiller powered ahead for nine and Nelson finished the job with a two-yarder to give Hutch the lead again at 10-7 with 8:25 to go in the half.

 

Becker failed to move the ball much on their next possession and this time, Fobbe put his foot to the ball on fourth and six at midfield and boomed the ball through the end zone.

 

The Tigers took control and held the ball the rest of the half. Fifteen plays — all on the ground — had Hutchinson marching to Becker’s four-yard line with 18 seconds to go. Nelson used his brute force to tumble into the end zone and the Bulldogs headed into halftime behind by 17-7.

 

A halftime celebration consisted of Homecoming royalty riding in golf carts across the field to the delight of the fans. Mary Goenner and Rhiley Larson were named King and Queen and Rachel Eisenreich and Blake Paulson were named Prince and Princess.

 

Also at halftime, Julie Baloun and her Dazzlers entertained the crowd by showing off the fancy moves of the tiny dancers from their recent dance camp. The high school band concluded the festivities with superb renditions of popular songs from the drums, horns and wind instruments.

 

 

The Bulldogs came back to the field fired up with players chanting, “Let’s go!” while slamming their fists on each other’s shoulder pads.

 

The fire they felt poured onto the field as the defense swarmed the Tigers on first down and ripped the ball out for a fumble recovery at the 43 yard line.

 

It took the Bulldogs 12 plays to drive to the three yard line behind the ground game of Boros (16 yards), Austin Hemmelgarn (11 yards) and Lucas Dertinger (16 yards). Becker capped off the drive with a field goal and with 4:59 left in the third, Becker found themselves down by just one TD.

 

The fired up feeling continued as chants boiled up and onto the field. It was enough to put a halt to the Tigers and their powerful ground game. They punted to Becker’s 37 and Fobbe and company set up shop from there.

 

A little wizardry on first down saw Boros receive a double reverse and bolt up the field for 18 yards. Fobbe proceeded to find Alex Blomgren for 11 yards to the 24. Boros and Dertinger traded short gains, then Boros broke through the tacklers and scored his second TD of the game from 14 yards out.

 

Suddenly, with 51 seconds to go in the third, the game was all knotted up and the momentum was all on the “white” side of the field.

 

From there, birds were safe in the skies as Hutchinson decided to use their big running backs to wear down Becker’s defense. And on the next drive, they did just that as  they fed Alex Nelson eight straight handoffs — ripping through the Bulldog arms and legs for 59 yards. Christian Kurth finished off the drive with a two-yard plunge. The Tigers had answered and now it was time for Becker to do the same.

 

Unfortunately, on Becker’s first play of their subsequent possession, Boros lost the handle on the ball on a sweep and Hutchinson recovered the pigskin at Becker’s 34.

 

Seven plays later, the Tigers and Alex Nelson slammed the ball over the goal line and Becker’s white fans were quieted. The score was now 31-17 with very little time left on the clock.

 

The Bulldogs — in desperation with time running out — lost another fumble, this time as Fobbe was sacked, and the Tigers were able to run the clock out for the win.

 

Fobbe finished four-of-eight for 74 yards and one TD. He also rushed for 18 yards on six carries.

 

Boros had Becker’s two TDs and gained 99 yards on 19 carries. He also had the one pass catch for 50 yards and a score.

 

Jayden Gruba led the Bulldogs with eight tackles and two assists. He also tallied one tackle for loss. Travis Ferris had seven tackles and one assist and Justin Reichle finished with five tackles and two assists.

 

Hutchinson gained 331 total yards — 319 on the ground. Becker finished with 210 total yards. Each team received two penalties on the night.

 

 

The Bulldogs head to Big Lake Friday to avenge last year’s playoff loss to the Hornets. Game time is 7 p.m.