2009 Football: For second straight season, Dogs bank playoff hopes on Maysville game

With last Friday’s 29-14 victory over Polo, Gallatin put itself into position to play for a state playoff berth this week. Hamilton, the #2 team in Class 1, dominated Maysville, 48-0, to clearly establish itself as the District 14 favorite, but for the second year two teams will advance from each district.

A Gallatin win over Maysville and what is already shaping up as a Hamilton win over Polo would set up a head-to-head clash for the district title between the Bulldogs and Hornets on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Gallatin. A tough test for the Bulldogs, considering that the Hornets have yet to be pushed on the football field.

"This week is going to be very important to us, as it is key to accomplishing our team goal of getting into the playoffs," said Bulldog coach Jeff White. "Maysville is a much better team in the second half of the season than they were the first half," he advises. "Some of that is due to the fact that they got some of their players healthy and another is they’ve changed their scheme just a bit and seem to be playing much better football as of late," he added.

Gallatin built a 29-0 lead through three quarters against Polo. Field conditions told the story. The Panthers put the ball on the ground four times in the opening half, losing two that led to GHS touchdowns. By halftime, Polo’s side of the field was a gray, sloppy mess, while Gallatin’s side was in nearly pristine condition.

A whirlwind first quarter produced no scoring. The Bulldogs broke the deadlock early in the second with a scoring drive set up by a Hayden Bott fumble recovery on the Panther 24-yard line. Matt Atkinson broke a dive play to the four and followed with a plunge into the end zone.

Brandon Ness recovered a second Panther fumble on Polo’s 32. In a replay of his earlier carry, Atkinson carried in from the four for the score. Ness followed Keiten Newberry and Jason Moore into the end zone for a two-point conversion.

The Panthers finally crossed the 50-yard line late in the second quarter but came up short on a fourth and nine pass completion at the Bulldog six-yard line. Bulldog quarterback Terrill Wood turned a simple dive into a 94-yard scoring run up the middle as Panther defenders keyed on Atkinson and realized their mistake too late.

Gallatin held onto the football for nearly all of the third quarter and Atkinson punched into the end zone again at the 7:37 mark. Brandon Ness converted for two to up the ante to 29-0. The drive featured a 46-yard run by freshman Chad Ness.

Polo got on the board with 37 seconds left in the contest on a six-yard screen pass from Dalton Rardon to Nick Allen. Rardon also ran in for the two point conversion.

Following a successful on-side kickoff that died in the mud, Polo scored again on a Rardon to Allen pass covering 40 yards.

"We did some things well last week vs. Polo," Coach White said, "but as always there are a few things we still can improve upon. We are to the point of the season where everything is becoming a matter of fine tuning," he added. "We just need to do little things here and there a little better."

Four Bulldog runners combined for over 300 yards on the ground: Wood (110), Brandon Ness (72), Atkinson (67) and Chad Ness (55).

Brandon Ness led all tacklers with 15 solos and three assists. Wood contributed 10 solo stops and a pair of assists.

Gallatin 29, Polo 14

Bulldog Statistics

Rushing: Wood 5-110, TD; B. Ness 14-72, Atkinson 14-67, 3 TD; C. Ness 8-55.

Passing: B. Ness 0-3-0, Wood 0-1-0. Punts: Bracket 1-42.

Leading tacklers: B. Ness 15/3, Wood 10/2, Michener 7/3, Atkinson 6/4, Leeper 5/3, Brackett 4/0, Bott 3/1, fum. recovery; Mattis 2/2, Newberry 1/3, Prentice 1 /2, Alden 1/0, McLey 1/0, Hunt 0/1, fum. recovery; Holcomb 0/1.

Grand River Conference Standings — Week 8

Oct. 16 Results

Gallatin 29, Polo 14
Hamilton 48, Maysville 0
King City 47, Tarkio 7
Princeton 48, Milan 6
Rock Port 56, Albany 6
S. Harrison 46, LeBlond 7

Oct. 23 Schedule

Maysville at Gallatin
Polo at Hamilton
Albany at Tarkio
Rock Port at King City
Putnam County at Princeton
S. Harrison at Maryville