OTC to host ABE Friday night in Battle Lake for homecoming

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs improved to 5-0 after an impressive 49-19 win over Ortonville on Friday night. The game was the third straight with at least 40 points as the Bulldogs head into their homecoming game against Ashby/Brandon-Evansville on Friday night in Battle Lake.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Bulldogs and Trojans combined for 34 points in the second quarter as Lane Dilly broke the scoreless tie for the first of a pair of touchdown runs. He found the end zone from 8-yards out and Mason Dalluge converted the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0 in favor of OTC.

The Bulldogs made the score 14-0 on a 69-yard run by Jack Mekalson, who also found Mason Dalluge on a 70-yard pass later in the quarter to make the score 20-6 after the Trojans found the end zone on a 9-yard pass. 

Dilly brought the scoring to a close in the second quarter when he scored on a 5-yard run and Tyler Christensen converted the two-point conversion to make the score 28-6 heading into halftime.

Ortonville tried to make a game of it in the third quarter when they scored on a 3-yard run to make the score 28-12, but Mekalson found Dalluge on another long touchdown pass, this time from 40-yards out to make the score 36-12 after Christensen converted the two-point conversion. 

In the fourth quarter, Dalluge scored his third touchdown of the day when he found the end zone on a 20-yard run. Dilly kicked the extra point to leave the score at 43-12.

Unfortunately, Ortonville took the subsequent kick off to the house when they returned the kick off 98 yards to the end zone to make the score 43-19 following the extra point kick. Not to be outdone, Dalluge scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 50-yard pass from Mekalson to end the game by a score of 49-19.

As a team, OTC outgained the Trojans by a 482-288 margin, despite running just 39 plays on offense, compared to 67 for Ortonville. 

OTC threw for 216 yards, while rushing for 266 yards. OTC also forced a pair of Ortonville interceptions and didn’t turn the ball over throughout the game. 

Mekalson had a big game through the air as he went 8-10 for 216 yards and 3 touchdowns. 

Dilly led the way rushing with 84 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 rushes. Christensen rushed 7 times for 43 yards, while Christopher Fronning rushed 6 times for 31 yards, Dalluge rushed 2 times for 28 yards and a touchdown and Mekalson rushed 3 times for 80 yards and a touchdown. 

Dalluge caught 6 passes for 212 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Dilly caught 1 pass for 4 yards. 

This week the Bulldogs will host Ashby/Brandon-Evansville in Battle Lake on Friday night for homecoming. 

ABE comes into the game with a record of 3-2 overall and are averaging 15.2 points per game on offense, while surrendering just 14.6 points per game on defense. Last week they defeated Hillcrest by a score of 26-14. 

OTC is currently averaging 43.4 points per game on offense and giving up just 12 points per game on defense.