Delay was bad news for Dogie football

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Neither rain, nor wind, nor dead of night could keep the Dogies from finishing their Homecoming game against Rocky Mountain last Friday. However, an hour and 15 minute lightning delay played in the Grizzlies’ favor as they outscored Newcastle in the second half and secured the 29-13 win.
“That was the longest lightning delay I’ve ever been a part of, but I’m glad we got to finish it,” head coach Matt Conzelman admitted. “Some teams in South Dakota just called the game early, or came back on Saturday to finish it.”
Rocky Mountain got on the board first with just a little over two minutes ticked off the clock. The Grizzly player broke free on the left side and outran the Dogie defense into the endzone.
“We’re there to make the tackle most of the time, but we just didn’t play the overall best defense that we’ve seen so far this year,” Conzelman frowned. “We need to be better about finishing on those tackles, and we need to get better at stopping the run.” 
It didn’t take long for the Dogies to have an answer for the Grizzlies’ early goal. After gaining good field position on the kickoff, Newcastle marched the ball down the field. Then Slade Roberson found Bradyn Frye in the endzone and connected with him on a 27-yard pass for a touchdown.
“Slade made a good pass and Frye, who has good hands, was there,” Conzelman grinned. “There was a defender right in front of him, but he got up in the air and brought it down. It was cool for him to get into the endzone.”
Frye then finished off the goal by hitting the point after touchdown to tie the game at sevens. 
The score remained tied into the second quarter, however Rocky Mountain was able to punch one more in before the half. Braden Jenkins made a great play on the PAT, blocking the kickers attempt to hold them to only six points on the play.
“We headed into the half only down 7-13, so we were still in the game,” Conzelman declared. “But when we came out of the lightning delay, they were ready to go and we weren’t.”
On their first possession, the Grizzlies drove the ball all the way down the field, getting one first down after the other, and punched it in extending their lead to 20-7.
In the fourth quarter, the Dogies got another TD on a 15-yard pass from Roberson to Aidan Chick for the sophomore’s first varsity touchdown. Newcastle attempted a two-point conversion but were stopped short of the goal line to bring the score to 13-20. 
“I had the play in mind to call for Frye, and I got the call in, but the refs made him come out due to blood.” Conzelman explained. “Chick’s got good hands, too, so we just went with it. He was right there, and made a great grab and he’s still smiling today.”
Once again, the Dogies had pulled within reach, however another touchdown and a safety by Rocky Mountain sealed the deal on the night.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted the game to turn out, but if you take a look at each of our games, we are getting better each week,” Conzelman stated. “They are ranked fifth in 1A and they weren’t a slouch team. They only have one senior, but they have 13 juniors. Having experience makes a world of difference, so that’s one of the challenges we are just going to face from game to game.”
The Dogies are back at it on Friday as they host the Wolves of Moorcroft with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. 
“It’s good to have home games back to back. They have experience with several juniors and seniors, and they’ll outsize us again, but I like the matchup,” Conzelman determined. “I think it will be good even competition for us and hopefully we’ll get payback from last year.”