OTC to host Ortonville on Friday night in Henning

Photo by Chad Koenen
William Schwartz and Adrian Jones lead the way as Tayden Soma looks for a hole to run through during Friday’s home game against Rothsay. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers by a score of 34-28 to improve to 3-1 on the season. This week the Bulldogs will host Ortonville in their homecoming game in Henning.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

William Schwartz rushed 24 times for 164 yards and three touchdowns as the Otter Tail Central edged Rothsay 34-28 on Friday night. In a game that went down to the final seconds, Schwartz got the scoring going in the first quarter when he found the end zone on a 74-yard touchdown run. Tayden Soma scored on the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0.

Braxtyn Cameron rolls out for a pass while William Schwartz looks back for the football during Friday night’s game against Rothsay in Battle Lake.

Rothsay answered with a 52-yard touchdown run, before Soma scored on a 12-yard run to cap off a busy first quarter with the Bulldogs leading 14-6.

OTC made the score 22-6 when Schwartz found the end zone once again, this time on a one-yard run and converted the two-point conversion to make the score 22-6 early in the second quarter.

After Rothsay scored on a 27-yard touchdown run and converted the two-point conversion, Braxtyn Cameron found Maddox Mekalson on a six-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-14. Rothsay was able to find the end zone one more time before halftime, this time on an eight-yard pass to leave the score at 28-20. 

Both teams would score one more time in the game as Schwartz scored on a one-yard run early in the third quarter for the Bulldogs, before the Tigers scored on a 72-yard touchdown run and they converted the two-point conversion to make the score 34-28 in favor of OTC.

Maddox Mekalson and Tayden Soma bring down a Rothsay ball carrier during Friday’s game against the Tigers.

Neither team was able to find the end zone in the fourth quarter, despite having drives reach their opponent’s territory. 

As a team, the Bulldogs rushed for 326 yards and passed for another 76 yards. Rothsay rushed for 287 yards and passed for 39 yards. The Bulldogs picked up 22 first downs in the game as they marched the ball up and down the field against the Tigers. 

Schwartz led the way offensively as he rushed 24 times for 164 yards and three touchdowns, while Soma rushed 17 times for 127 yards. 

Mekalson led the way receiving as he finished with three catches for 37 yards and one touchdown, while Cameron went 6-9 passing for 76 yards and a touchdown. 

This week OTC will host Ortonville in Henning as part of homecoming week. The Trojans come into the game with a record of 0-4 after falling to Border West by a score of 54-6 on Friday night. The Trojans are averaging 9.5 points per game on offense, while giving up 49.5 points per game on defense.

OTC has won three straight games and average 28 points per game on offense, while giving up 30 points per game on defense. 

TEAM TOTALS – TOTAL YARDS: BL 402, R 326; PASSING YARDS: BL 76, R 39; RUSHING YARDS: BL 326, R 287; FIRST DOWNS: BL 22, R 11

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: W. Schwartz 24-164-3, T. Soma 17-127-1, B. Cameron 4-13-0, A. Rousu 3-10-0, E. Fronning 1-2-0

PASSING: B. Cameron 6-9-76-1-0

RECEIVING: M. Mekalson 3-37-1, E. Fronning 2-36-0, W. Schwartz 1-3-0