By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A two-point game heading into the final quarter of action, Otter Tail Central blew past the New York Mills Eagles on Friday afternoon by a score of 28-6.

The Bulldogs used a dominant rushing attack to not only control the clock, but march the ball up and down the field. OTC rushed for 240 yards, while holding the Eagles to just 16 yards on the ground and 123 yards through the air. The Bulldogs passed for 62 yards to hold a 302-139 advantage in total offense.

Despite dominating the time of possession and the tempo of the game throughout the contest, OTC led just 8-0 at halftime after Easton Misegades caught an 8-yard pass from Erik Stans in the first quarter. The two-point conversion was successful to put the Bulldogs up 8-0.

After a scoreless second quarter, NY Mills cut the lead to just 8-6 when Creed Mursu found a receiver in the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown pass to keep the Eagles in the game.

The touchdown seemed to wake up the Bulldogs who went on to score 20 points in the fourth quarter thanks to an 11-yard touchdown run by Keaston Thorpe and a pair of touchdowns by Trystan Loghry from five and six-yards out to make the final score 28-6.

The Bulldogs defense were able to get the Eagles off the field on third downs as NY Mills converted just 2-11 on third downs and 2-6 on fourth down. OTC, on the other hand, went 6-12 on third downs and 1-4 on fourth downs.

Stans led the way through the air as he went 5-13 for 62 yards and a touchdown, while Loghry finished with 20 carries for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Thorpe rushed four times for 53 yards and a touchdown, while MaCade Barbre rushed six times for 42 yards, Reece Christensen rushed four times for 36 yards, Dawson Rogers rushed five times for 20 yards and Stans rushed three times for seven yards.

Todd Bjerke was the leading receiver with one catch for 20 yards, while Misegades caught two passes for 17 yards and a touchdown, Loghry caught one pass for 15 yards and Rogers caught one pass for 10 yards.

With the win the Bulldogs improved to 1-1 on the season as they gear up to host Wadena-Deer Creek on Friday night in Battle Lake as part of Tackle Cancer Night. 

OTC is currently 1-1 on the season and is averaging 21 points per game on offense, while surrendering 18 points per game on defense. 

Wadena-Deer Creek comes into the game with a 2-0 record after picking up a 41-14 win over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle and a 35-7 win over Lake Park-Audubon. The Wolverines are averaging 38 points per game, while surrendering 10.5 points per game on defense.

PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int)- E. Stans 5-13-62-1-0

RUSHING (att-yds-td)- T. Loghry 20-82-2, K. Thorpe 4-53-1, M. Barbre 6-42, R. Christensen 4-36, D. Rogers 5-20, E. Stans 3-7

RECEIVING (catch-yds)- T. Bjerke 1-20, E. Misegades 2-17-1, T. Loghry 1-15, D. Rogers 1-10

September 3

In  game that featured a nearly two hour delay to the start of the third quarter due to lightening in the area, even though no rain ever fell in Brandon, the Bulldogs were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter as Ashby/Brandon-Evansville upended OTC by a score of 30-14 on Thursday, Sept. 3.

After a scoreless first quarter, ABE took an 8-0 lead after a 10-yard touchdown run and the two-point conversion.

A short time later, Trystan Loghry scored the first of two touchdowns in the game for OTC on a 14-yard touchdown run to make the score 8-6.

Unfortunately, ABE added a second touchdown in the quarter on a 14-yard pass to take a 16-6 lead at the halftime break. With lightning in the area from a storm north of the football field, officials kept the two teams in the locker room for approximately two hours as neither team got back to the field until after 10 p.m.

Loghry quickly found the end zone for the second time in the third quarter, this time from one-yard out and the Bulldogs converted the two-point conversion to make the score 16-14 in favor of the Bolts.

Still trailing by two points late in the game, OTC was marching down the field when a tipped pass was intercepted by ABE and returned for a touchdown to make the score 24-14. The Bolts would go on to score one final touchdown on a pass to make the final score 30-14.

As a team, OTC did not complete a pass in the game and rushed for 235 yards. They actually outgained the Bolts 235-158 in total offense and converted 11 first downs, but a pair of turnovers and another drive that stalled inside the 10-yard line proved to be the difference in the game.

The Bulldogs were led offensively by Keaston Thorpe who rushed 17 times for 108 yards, while Loghry rushed 13 times for 63 yards and a pair of touchdowns. 

Erik Stans went 0-3 passing in the contest.

PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int)- E. Stans 0-3-0-0-1

RUSHING (att-yds-td)- K. Thorpe 17-108, T. Loghry 13-63-2, D. Rogers 6-39, E. Stans 6-15, R. Christensen 2-10