Dogies clinch playoff berth

The Friday night lights shone brightly for the Dogies last week as head coach Matt Conzelman’s team secured a place in the 2A East Playoffs by annihilating the Moorcroft Wolves at Schoonmaker Field, defeating
them 57-0.

Not only did the Dogies score 50 points against the Wolves in the first half alone, they also established their first mercy rule running-clock on an opponent in at least four years.

Senior captain Aidan Butler determined that everything just clicked for his squad on Friday. The skill players were running hard, both the offensive and defensive lines were dialed in, and the offense was just ready to go.

“We kind of went into the game with the idea that it was time to hang 50 on someone,” Butler said, grinning. “We wanted to lay the hammer down early and just not let up in the first half to see what we could do.”

The Dogies started things off with a vengeance, marching down the field and scoring on an 18-yard run by Landon Hatheway in their first offensive possession. Teddy Troftgruben connected with Connor Stohlhammer on the two-point conversion attempt to give the Dogies a quick 8-0 lead with 9:02 remaining in the first quarter.

“Landon really dominated in that first possession, and he ran the ball really well all night,” Conzelman said. “I think we took Moorcroft by surprise a little bit when we jumped on them that quickly, and then we just kept on rolling.”

With 3:51 to play in the first quarter, Collin McConkey took a direct snap at the eight-yard line and scampered into the end zone for the second TD of the night. Moorcroft got a hand on the PAT attempt by Cole Erb for the block so the Dogies ended the first frame of play up, 14-0.

In the second quarter, Newcastle hit the gas and blew the game wide open, scoring five touchdowns and forcing a safety to close out the half with a dominating 50-0 lead.

McConkey got his second TD of the night after breaking three-four tackles for a 35-yard run into the end zone with just seven seconds ticked off the clock in the third quarter. Erb was good on his PAT attempt to put the Dogies up 21-0

Just 1:36 later, Troftgruben connected with Dane Crabtree after a fake handoff and then hit Stohlhammer with a PAT pass for the two-point conversion, elevating the Dogies lead to 29-0.

Troftgruben then got his own TD at the 8:20 mark on a quarterback keeper from the 17-yard line. The two-point conversion attempt was thwarted, leaving Newcastle with the 35-0 advantage.

With 2:53 to play in the half, Stohlhammer broke free for a 32-yard run into the end zone, which Erb followed up with a good PAT. Twelve seconds later, the Dogies sacked the Moorcroft QB in his own end zone for a safety, which increased the lead to 44-0.

Finally, with 2:02 to play in the second quarter, Troftgruben found Stohlhammer on a 22-yard pass and the touchdown. Erb’s PAT attempt was blocked which gave the Dogies their 50-0 lead as the first half came to a close.

“Hats off to the offensive line,” Conzelman said. “They just got their blocks and Moorcroft just didn’t have an answer for them.”

The commanding lead the Dogies established meant there was a running clock in the second half. Though the first string took the field at the beginning of the third quarter, Conzelman took advantage of the opportunity to give his younger players time on the field.

With 7:44 to play in the third, Troftgruben handed off to Stohlhammer who pitched the ball back to Jonathan Anderson for the final Dogie TD of the night. Scott Larson got the nod for the PAT, and he put the ball through the uprights for the 57-0 Newcastle lead.

At 6:00 to go in the third, subs went into the game and kept the Wolves out of the end zone for the remaining 18 minutes of play.

“It was pretty fun to play that way on senior night, and it was an exciting total team win,” Conzelman said. “Now we just have to keep rolling this week against the Broncs.”

This week is a big game for the Dogies as they host the Burns Broncs on Saturday in their Homecoming match-up. Both teams are tied at 4-1 in the conference, so the victor of this contest will secure the second seed and will claim home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at
Schoonmaker Field.