Bulldogs down Warriors
CHERRY TWP — Redbank Valley's Jake Dougherty was able to throw the ball all over the Moniteau defense Friday.
Dougherty's passing prowess helped the Bulldogs down the Warriors 26-14.
After a defensive and scoreless opening quarter, Dougherty put the Bulldogs on the board when he connected with junior wid reciver Connor Shoemaker for a 5-yard touchdown.
The early lead was short-lived as the Moniteau offense got rolling on the following drive.
Senior Cody Skiver, who finished with 72 yards, picked up the running game to charge the Warriors down field.
Junior Derek Boben then launched a 29-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Nick Pflugh.
The game took a dramatic turn within the final 90 of the second quarter.
The Bulldogs (7-0) scored two touchdowns, giving Redbank Valley a 19-8 halftime.
Dougherty found senior Wyatt Hetrick open downfield for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
The Bulldogs forced a quick three-and-out series and scored the next touchdown with no time remaining on the clock with Dougherty finding Hetrick in the endzone again.
“We run that option where Jake (Dougherty) is able to either keep the ball or get rid of it and, for some reason, they kept letting him keep the ball,” Bulldogs' head coach Ed Wasilowaski said. “That last touchdown at the end of the second quarter was huge.
“These kids have enough pressure on them, and we put more on them to come through and make that play and they were able to do it.”
Similar to opening quarter, both teams came out of the half and played through a scoreless third quarter.
With about eight minutes remaining in the fourth, Skiver led the Warriors down the field again and cut the Bulldogs' lead to 19-14.
Despite a strong defensive effort, Moniteau was unable to contain Dougherty late in the quarter, as he connected with Hetrick once more to help the Bulldogs pull away with a 26-14 lead.
Moniteau's following drive came up just shy as Skiver's throw came up just short of Derek Boben in the end zone on fourth down.
Redbank Valley was able to run out the rest of the clock and secure the victory.
“It's hard for us to play from behind,” Moniteau head coach Wade Vogan said. “We are more of run-oriented team and we had to open up and begin to pass the ball a little more. That made us change our gameplan. They can throw the ball and that is quite obvious. They marched down the field on us in that first half and put points on the board.”
