Fireworks, provided by the Paynesville Area Jaycees, were shot off during halftime and after the Bulldogs scored Friday night.
The Paynesville Bulldogs football team put it all together in the second half against LPGE and came away with a 36-7 win over the Thunder.The Bulldogs came out a little tight in the first half in front of a huge Homecoming night crowd. This was a game the Dogs knew they had to win to stay in the playoff hunt and maybe started out with this in the back of their minds. They did not look sharp in the first quarter as they lost two fumbles and gave up seven points to the Thunder.
Ben Bork (22) notched another 100-yard rushing game against LPGE Friday. He also completed passes for a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
In the second quarter, the Paynesville offensive line took over the game and never looked back. The Bulldogs came up with two touchdown runs of two and five yards by Jeff Voss and a two-point conversion run by Voss to make the score 14-7 at the half. On both touchdown runs, Voss went into the end zone untouched thanks to the blocking of the line and the other running backs: Ben Bork, Joe Hiltner, and Adam Schaefer.
During halftime, the players were happy to be ahead by a score of 14-7, but coach Kyle Nehowig did not share much of their happiness. He felt the Bulldogs should have been ahead by more and let the team know he wasn't exactly overjoyed at the way the team played in the first half.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs responded to their coach's challenge and rushed the ball for 138 yards while holding the Thunder to 54 yards rushing. Voss scored his third touchdown of the night on a five-yard run and also the two-point conversion run to make the score 22-7 in favor of the Bulldogs.
At the end of the quarter, the home team was on the move again, with the ball at the LPGE five-yard line as time expired. Two plays into the fourth quarter the Bulldogs came up with their fourth touchdown, with Voss scoring again from eight yards out. Ben Bork passed to Voss for the two-point conversion to make the score Paynesville 30, LPGE 7.
Paynesville then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the LPGE 20-yard line. On the next play, Bork threw a halfback pass to T.J. Schultz, who made a great catch in the end zone for six points. That was the final score of the game, making it 36-7 for Paynesville.
The Bulldogs defense was led by Chris Sogge, Steve Flint, and Joe Nosbush, all of whom played outstanding all night long for the Bulldogs. The defense also had two interceptions, by Bork and Voss, to stop LPGE's drives near Paynesville's goal line. After a Bulldog turnover in the fourth quarter, the defense made a great goal-line stand to thwart LPGE. The defense played well, yielding a little more yardage than they wanted but holding the Thunder to only seven points.
The Bulldogs played an excellent second half of football and will need to play that way for the whole game when they travel to Melrose on Thursday to take on the Dutchmen. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Paynesville's record now stands at 3-3 for the season and 2-2 in conference play.
Fireworks, provided by the Paynesville Area Jaycees, were shot off during halftime and after the Bulldogs scored Friday night.
| LPGE-- | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- 7 |
| Paynesville-- | 0 | 14 | 8 | 14 | -- 36 |
Scoring summary
Individual statistics
LPGE--Jeff Prill 4 run (Hallermann kick);
Pay--Jeff Voss 2 run (Voss run);
Pay--Voss 5 run (run failed);
Pay--Voss 5 run (Voss run);
Pay--Voss 8 run (Voss pass from Ben Bork);
Pay--T.J. Schultz 20 pass from Bork (run failed).
Rushing (attempts-yards-TDs): Jeff Voss 21-158-4; Ben Bork 15-124; Josh Roemeling 5-28; Jeremy Fuchs 1-39; Josh Trees 3-8; Adam Schaefer 1-2;
Passing (completions-attempts-yards-TDs): Bork 2-2-23-1
Receiving (receptions-yards-TDs): T. J. Schultz 1-20-1; Voss 1-3;
Interceptions: Bork and Voss;
Tackles (solo-assists): Joe Nosbush 4-9; Chris Sogge 3-7; Voss 5-1; Steve Flint 3-4; Shaun Fleischhacker 3-4; Scott Braun 3-4; Chris Rohe 2-6; Schultz 3-2.