Carlton Falls in Overtime Thriller

Photos by: Marianne Pierson

August 31st, 2013

Tyler Peterson-NSO

The Carlton Bulldogs opened up their season on Thursday, August 29th when they took on conference opponents, the Lake of the Woods Bears. The Bulldogs fought back to tie the game at 14-14 in the middle of the 3rd quarter, but they ended up falling in a tough fought battle, 22-14 in overtime.

After the 1st quarter, the game was 0-0 and there was no score until Carlton junior, Cade Pierson, picked off a pitch and returned it 50 yards for the touchdown midway through the 2nd quarter. The Bulldogs capitalized on the 2 point conversion, with Dominic Bennett running it into the end zone. The next possession for the Lake of the Woods Bears, junior Kalvin Krause took one to the house, running it for 68 yards. After Carlton went 3 and out their next possession, Kalvin Krause was at it again, breaking tackles and going for a 73 yard rushing TD.

At half the score was 14-8 in favor of the Lake of the Woods Bears. This wasn’t any normal half-time though as a storm rolled in over the field causing the game to be delayed for well over an hour.

Play finally resumed at 9:30 PM. The 3rd quarter was back and forth until mid-way through, the Lake of the Woods Bears snapped the ball over the punters head and the Bulldogs took over at the 15 yard line. It was just 2 plays after that, that the Bulldogs took advantage of the field positions when junior HB, Dominic Bennett took it 15 yards on the ground to notch it up at 14-14. Bennett had another big play for the Bulldogs when he covered a lose ball at the end of the 3rd quarter. There were no scoring opportunities in the 4th quarter until late in the quarter, when the Bulldogs kicker, Josh Dahlman, attempted a long FG of 42 yards and it had the distance, but it was just a little to the left.

In overtime, Lake of the Woods had possession first and capitalized when senior quarterback, Chase Ubel completed a 10 yard pass to junior WR, John Schell. Chase Ubel then converted the 2 point conversion to give the Bears the 22-14 lead. The Bulldogs had one last opportunity on 4th down and 10 when junior quarterback Bard Day launched a pass through the middle intended for Dominic Bennett but was broken up by Lake of the Woods defenders.

The Bulldogs were lead on the ground and on defense by Dominic Bennett, who rushed for 148 yards and had a team high of 15 tackles in the game. Cade Pierson also put in a nice performance on the ground, totaling 96 yards rushing. The Bulldogs, who are 0-1 on the young season, will be back in action when they travel to face off against the Nevis Tigers (0-1) on September 6th. They will be back at home on September 13th when they welcome the Cromwell Cardinals to town.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com