Dallman Powers Carlton To Victory

Tyler Peterson – NSO

Photos By: Marianne Pierson

Senior Josh Dallman’s 2 touchdowns on offense powered the Carlton Bulldogs to their first victory since 2012, topping McGregor 14-8 on Senior and Parent’s night.

The McGregor Mercuries received the ball first to get the game started off, but on the first snap of the game, the Bulldogs forced a McGregor fumble, taking over possession at the 20 yard line. The Bulldogs would push it to the 5 yard line before a high snap went over Quarterback Jackson Mickle’s head, pushing them back to the 20 yard line. Two plays later, McGregor defender, Trevor Heagle, sacked Mickle and forced the fumble resulting in the Mercuries recovering around their 33 yard line.

McGregor would march down the field with ease to put the first point on the board when Quarterback, Auston Anderson, plunged in from 1 yard out. After a penalty, Jacob Jonas got the 2 point conversion into the end zone from 7 yards out, giving the Mercuries the 8-0 lead.

In the 2nd quarter, Jackson Mickle kept a play alive, rolling out to his right and completing a 42 yard completion to Dominic Bennett to set them up with good field position. But just a few plays later, the Bulldogs coughed up the ball and the Mercuries recovered it on their 7 yard line.

The Bulldogs defense would buckle down and come up big late in the 2nd quarter, stuffing a run up the middle in the red zone on 4th and short to keep the score at 8-0 going into the half.

Carlton would receive the ball in the 2nd half, but their possession would be short lived as they fumbled again to give the Mercuries possession at the Carlton 45 yard line. But the Bulldogs defense came up big once again when senior, Mike Moralez, sacked Anderson on 4th and 9 to give the ball back to the Bulldogs.  The Bulldogs took advantage this time, when Jackson Mickle connected with Josh Dahlman on a 13 yard touchdown pass that saw Dahlman plow over two defenders on his way to the end zone. The score cut the McGregor lead down to 8-6.

Carlton would get the ball back, forcing the Mercuries to punt. Nick Lee had one of the plays of the game for the Bulldogs, somehow finding his way out of a pile, and rushing 55 yards down to the 10 yard line. The Bulldogs took advantage of the beautiful play by Lee, when Josh Dallman found the end zone for the second time on the evening, this time plowing up the middle from 6 yards out. Dominic Bennett converted the 2 point conversion to put the Bulldogs up 14-8 going into the 4th quarter.

The game came down to the wire after the Bulldogs got a defensive stop but were forced to punt with under 3 minutes left. McGregor drove down to the 10 yard line with 30 seconds left before Carlton linebacker, Isaiah Wallace, found the QB on 3rd down to keep the clock running. McGregor had one final play to get into the end zone, but failed to do so after McGregors Joey Glunz dropped the pass in the end zone to secure the victory for the Bulldogs.

Carlton played stout defense throughout the night, holding McGregors offense to just 8 points on the night. “We just had to find everyone’s source of motivation and get them pumped up”, captain Dominic Bennett, said about the defense after the game. “We just gave it our all”. Bennett also went on to add that “It feels great to snap that losing streak we had”

Another captain, Mike Moralez, who came up with a big sack in the 3rd quarter along with making a lot of big plays on defense, said, “We’ve worked so hard to become a team. Everybody put in so much hard work and it finally paid off.” Cade Pierson, who is also a captain, added, “It’s such an amazing feeling to win my final game at home. Tasting this victory, motivates us to keep it going”.

Josh Dallman, who scored twice in the game, as well as having some big plays on defense down the stretch, went on to say “It feels amazing knowing that I helped my team victory. We’ve worked hard on these plays and I am glad they paid off”. He also added, “If we all play like tonight, we have a chance to make a run in the playoffs”.

Freshman Quarterback Jackson Mickle went 3-4 through the air for 67 yards in the victory. Bennett added 13 carries for 53 yards and one reception for 42 yards, as well as being in on several defensive stops. Cade Pierson pitched in 36 yards on the ground on 9 carries, all coming in the first half. Another senior, Nick Lee, broke out for 77 yards on 7 carries, 55 which came on one play. And, lastly, Josh Dallman had 2 receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown and also added 3 carries for 8 yards and a rushing touchdown in the 14-8 victory.

For McGregor, Auston Anderson rushed 26 times for 98 yards, and went 2-5 for 23 yards through the air. Jacob Jonas had 23 carries for 88 yards in the loss and Tom Scollard added 7 rushes for 39 yards.

The Bulldogs snapped their 15 game losing streak with the win, and move to 1-6 on the year. They will travel to Northland to take on the Eagles (1-6) next Wednesday at 7:00PM. McGregor drops to 1-6 on the year and will host the Hill City Hornets (2-5) next Wednesday at 7:00PM.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com