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The Bulldogs rushed for 340 yards on the night, with junior Milan Virant (shown at right) leading the way with 190 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns.

The Bulldogs got their first conference victory with the win.

The first quarter started out slowly for both teams as Paynesville opened the game with only two first downs in the first quarter, but their defense held Benson to -2 yards of offense for the quarter.

Neither team could manage any points during the first quarter.

The Bulldogs running game came alive the rest of the game. The Bulldogs started the scoring in the second quarter with a one-yard quarterback sneak by Chris Fuchs. Josh Kampsen kicked the extra point, and the Bulldogs were off to the races.

With only a few minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs' Josh Schreifels fell on a Benson fumble on the Benson 31-yard line. Four plays later Milan Virant scored from five yards out and with the extra point the Bulldogs had a 14-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the half.

On the second play for the Braves, pressure caused an errant throw that the Bulldogs' Jeremy Fuchs intercepted at the Braves' 35-yard line and returned 27 yards to the Benson eight-yard line.

With two seconds left, Virant scored his second touchdown of the night from a yard out. With the kick, the Bulldogs took a 21-0 lead into halftime, with 14 points coming in the last two minutes of the half.

The Bulldogs' offense came out fired up for the third quarter, and they pounded the ball on the ground. Virant capped the nine-play, 72-yard drive with his third touchdown of the game from 15 yards out.

This drive saw the offensive line for the Bulldogs dominate the line of scrimmage and open up some huge holes for Virant and Josh Trees to run through.

Adam Schaefer (44) and Ryan Wendlandt (81) conbine to sack Benson quarterback Zach Johnson (7) during the first half.

The Braves came right back and scored their only points on the ensuing drive. A big play for the Braves was a 45-yard pass connection from quarterback Zach Johnson to split end Adam Foslien on third down. This set up a quarterback sneak by Johnson for the Braves' only touchdown.

The Bulldogs' defense stopped the two-point conversion and the score at the end of the third quarter was Paynesville 27; Benson 6.

The fourth quarter saw the Bulldogs pick up where they had left off at the end of the third as they marched 61 yards in 11 plays to set up another touchdown run by Chris Fuchs, this time from nine yards out. Kampsen kicked his fourth extra point of the night and the Bulldogs now led by a score of 34-6.

Neither team scored the rest of the night, making that score the final.

The Bulldogs' offense finally showed some life as they had 346 total yards in offense for the night.

The defense held the Braves to just 99 total yards. This is the second straight week where the Bulldogs' defense has held their opponent to under 100 total yards for the game.

Defensively the Bulldogs are being led by their front four of Andy Torborg, Jason Leyendecker, Josh Schreifels and Ryan Wendlandt. They had three of the Bulldogs' four sacks on the night.

The Bulldogs will host the Morris Tigers in another conference battle on Friday night for their homecoming game. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs are now 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. Morris is 0-4 so far.

Benson--	0	0	6	0	-- 6
Paynesville--	0	21	6	7	-- 34

Scoring Summary
Pay-Chris Fuchs 1 run (Josh Kampsen kick);
Pay-Milan Virant 5 run (Kampsen kick);
Pay-Virant 1 run (Kampsen kick);
Pay-Virant 15 run (kick blocked);
Ben-Zach Johnson 1 run (pass failed);
Pay-Fuchs 9 run (Kampsen kick).

Individual Statistics
Rushing (attempts-yards-TDs): Milan Virant 26-190-3; Josh Trees 15-51; Kevin Mehr 2-19; Ryan Schneider 4-18; Chris Fuchs 4-17-2; Josh Kampsen 3-16 Josh Teicher 5-17;
Passing (completions-attempts-yards): Fuchs 1-3-6;
Receiving (receptions-yards): Nic Glenz 1-6;
Interceptions: Max Meagher, Jeremy Fuchs, and Matt Kerzman;
Sacks: Adam Schaefer, Ryan Wendlandt, Jason Leyendecker, and Josh Schreifels.