Bulldogs Open Season with a Win

The Golden Plains High School Bulldog football team opened their season with a 42-6 win over the Palco Roosters in Palco on September 4. This is Palco’s first year to play as a team since 2013 when they began a cooperative with Logan. “It was a good start to the year,” said Cristian Garcia. “Our attitude was good, but we got tired. We need to condition more and work on staying mentally strong.”

The Bulldogs received the ball to begin the game but punted to the Roosters after several downs. On defense, the Dogs held the Roosters with repeated tackles from Cristian Garcia, Tannor Todd, Kelby Buehler, and Parker Vahling forcing the Roosters to turn the ball over. Back on offense, the Dogs advanced the ball ending with a touchdown pass from Ruxin Arnberger to Todd to end the quarter with a 6-0 lead.

The Dogs held possession to open the second quarter. Adam Ritter ran the ball before Arnberger connected with Vahling close to the goal. Arnberger completed the drive with a touchdown run and a 12-0 lead. Jesus Dominguez kicked the ball back to the Roosters who could not convert giving the Dogs another possession. Arnberger connected with Garcia for a gain followed by a touchdown run by Ritter. Arnberger then intercepted a Rooster pass carrying it to the 5. Vahling completed the drive in the end zone to put the Dogs up 24-0.

Dominguez kicked again to the Roosters who were brought down by Koen Schaben. They broke through on the next play to score their only touchdown of the game. Kelby Buehler blocked their PAT attempt to put the game at 24-6 at the half.

The Bulldogs took care of the ball for the remainder of the game. Their defense was strong with Anthony Schippers bringing down the Roosters and interceptions by both Vahling and Arnberger. Arnberger connected with Todd for a third quarter touchdown and Ritter ran in another near the end of the quarter for the Bulldogs to lead 36-6 going into the fourth.

The action continued throughout the final quarter. The Roosters struggled to hike the ball successfully, but connected on some passes and played good defense. The Dogs also worked hard to gain yards with runs by Vahling and Ritter. Arnberger connected with Garcia who ran to the five. Ritter and Vahling each carried the ball with Ritter crossing the goal line for a final touchdown and the 42-6 win.

Arnberger finished the game with 173 passing yards for 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 7 yards and 1 touchdown. Parker Vahling rushed for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 fumble recovery. Adam Ritter ran 14 yards and had 2 touchdowns.

Tannor Todd received for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cristian Garcia received for 53 yards, Vahling 46, and Kelby Buehler 20. The Dogs strong defense was led by Kelby Buehler with 8 tackles, Schippers 7, Garcia 6, Ritter 6, Arnberger 5, Vahling 5, Koen Schaben 2, and Kasch Buehler 1. Kelby also had 1 interception and 3 fumble recoveries. Arnberger had 2 interceptions, and Vahling had 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery. Schippers also had a fumble recovery.

“We were all surprised,” said Adam Ritter. “They were a good team for their first year coming back to six-man on their own. They had some good athletes. We had trouble during the week but pulled it together and remembered our plays well in the game.” The Bulldogs will be on the road again as the travel to Cheylin on September 11 to face the Cougars.