2009 Football: Dogs shift focus and hopes to Class 1 playoffs following 32-6 loss

Coming off a 32-6 loss to the Wildkats, the Bulldogs will try to rebound and return to their winning ways this Friday when they travel to Polo. The Panthers, seeking their first win of the season, managed to get on the scoreboard twice in the second half against South Harrison. On the defensive side of the ball, Polo is giving up an average of 42 points per game to opponents.

"Just like a win, you can’t live in the past," GHS head coach Jeff White said of his team’s effort to refocus. "We’ve got to fix what needs to be fixed, go back and work on some fundamentals and move on," he added. "We certainly weren’t pleased with our effort against King City, but we can’t do anything about that now."

Coach White added that he’s looking for more mental toughness out of his players. Toughness that will go a long way toward preventing meltdowns experienced in all three GHS losses.

Likewise, Polo isn’t happy with the way its season has unfolded. Coach White expects to see a fired up Panther team, ready to play.

"Every coach in the state will be telling their teams that they are 0-0," he said. "We’re going to have to bounce back quickly and be ready to play come Friday," he added.

Things started badly for the Bulldogs and quickly worsened. The Wildkats recovered a GHS fumble barely two minutes into the game and needed only a couple of plays to score as Thomas Slayton powered in from three yards out.

Gallatin ran the ball effectively on its next drive but ran out of downs at the Kat 35. Philip Eiberger broke a long run to the Bulldog 29, and would eventually score on a one-yard plunge.

Another Eiberger run, this time 24 yards, produced a third Wildkat touchdown at the 8:14 mark of the second quarter. The Bulldogs blocked their third straight extra point kick but found themselves in an 18-0 hole.

Gallatin missed a golden opportunity to make a dent in the KC lead but a long run by Matt Atkinson came back due to an illegal procedure penalty. An overthrown, potential TD pass missed the mark as Terrill Wood beat his defender by ten yards.

King City drove again to the GHS 11-yard line but Hayden Bott recovered a Slayden fumble to kill the drive. However, following a quick three and out by Gallatin, King City tacked on a fourth score with seven seconds left on a Dalton Workman to Slayden pass in the back corner of the end zone.

Gallatin finally got on the scoreboard in the third period with Colton Selby engineering a scoring drive out of the shotgun formation. Backed by three pass completions, the Bulldogs rolled to the Wildkat seven-yard line, where Selby cashed in on a keeper around left end. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

Bo Malo recovered a fumbled pitch to start the fourth quarter but the Bulldogs could not capitalize. King City regained possession on downs after a nice gain by Atkinson on a screen pass failed to garner a first down.

Most of the remaining fourth quarter action took place inside the GHS 40 as the Bulldogs battled unsuccessfully to convert on fourth down situations.

Eiberger scored a final time for King City on a 36-yard cutback run with 7:28 left to play.

King City piled up 340 yards of offense, including 192 on the ground from Eiberger and 94 yards in receptions by Keaton Ebersold.

King City 32, Gallatin 6

Grand River Conference Standings — Week 7

Oct. 9 Results

King City 32, Gallatin 6
Hamilton 60, Princeton 8
S. Harrison 46, Polo 14
Maysville 34, Albany 0
E. Buchanan 46, Tarkio 0

Oct. 16 District Schedule

Gallatin at Polo
Hamilton at Maysville
Rock Port at Albany
King City at Tarkio
Milan at Princeton
LeBlond at S. Harrison