Bulldogs chew up Tarkio Indians 34-0 in season opener played at Tarkio
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Last season’s GHS football team did not score more than 21 points in any single game. Friday night the Bulldogs needed only a half to meet that total. Gallatin scored on each of its first two possessions and dominated play on both sides of the football on the way to a 34-0 romp over the Tarkio Indians.
The offensive success story for the Bulldogs Friday night came from the ability of both GHS quarterbacks, Kyle Hefley and Duke Burge, in guiding the Bulldog offense on scoring drives. Hefley quarterbacked Gallatin’s first possession, following a Daniel Horvatin fumble recovery, and capped a 3-play, 47-yard drive with a perfect execution of the option. Hefley sold the dive handoff to the Indian defense, skirted around left end, past the line of scrimmage, and pitched to Jason McGee, who ran untouched down the GHS sideline into the end zone.
Four minutes later, it was Burge’s turn after a Colby Swanstone interception of an Indian pass. On third down and 6 to go, Burge showcased his arm on a 30-yard scoring play by spiraling a pass down the sideline to Swanstone, who simply had to run under the ball after gaining a step on his defender.
Burge took charge of another scoring drive in the second period. McGee ran 19 yards off an option pitch. Swanstone leaped and outfought Tarkio’s Paul Bolin for the football and picked up 22 yards on a reception. Tyler Nichols carried for 6 yards to the one-yard line and Burge crashed in off right guard to finish the series.
Gallatin broke a scoreless second half with a one-yard run by McGee on the first play of the fourth period. A 10-yard reception by Pat Dickinson and 40-yard bomb from Burge to Swanstone set up the scoring play. Nichols powered across the line of scrimmage and broke free in the open field on a 39-yard run that closed out scoring with 6:40 left in the contest.
The Indian offense did not cross the mid-field stripe until the final seconds of the game as the Bulldog defensive front — Pat Dickinson, Sean Wood, Daniel Horvatin and Adam Strein — limited the Indians to only 96 yards on 40 rushing attempts. Tarkio’s biggest yardage gains came when the Bulldogs collapsed the pocket and send quarterback Kyler Rohlfsen sprinting toward the safety of the sideline stripe. Sacked 3 times, Rohlfsen completed only one of 10 pass attempts for a short 4-yard gain.
For the game, Nichols finished with 144 yards on 14 carries and McGee added 107 yards on 16 rushing attempts. Swanstone caught 7 passes for a total 135 yards. Burge completed 6 of 11 pass attempts for 122 yards.
The Bulldogs host the Rock Port Blue Jays in their home opener Friday night. The Jays dropped a 20-14 overtime decision to Avoca, Ia. last week.