MHS Football Gains an NEC Win Against Groton

On Friday, September 28, the Bulldogs’ football team and their fans traveled to Groton to tangle with a Northeastern Conference rival – the Tigers. The Bulldogs emerged victorious at 34-13.

Senior Jacob Karges got things started for the Bulldogs, when he ran 42 yards for a touchdown. And even as the clock ran out on the first quarter, the Bulldogs retained their lead at 6-0.

Then the Tigers returned to the field in the second quarter with an answer for the Bulldog touchdown, and followed it with a good point-after kick to leave the Dawgs trailing 6-7. MHS Junior Max McCulloch nabbed a 25-yard pass and used it to add another score to the Guest side of the board. McCulloch also helped complete the two-point conversion by passing the ball to Kaden Krause. Together they tipped the score back in favor of Milbank at 14-7.

The third quarter would go to the Dawgs. Karges ran into the end zone for a touchdown and kicker Carlos Ramirez added the point-after. Milbank held Groton scoreless in that 12-minute period.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Groton wasn’t ready to give up without a fight. The Tigers quickly added another touchdown to their tally, closing the gap to 21-13. The Groton score, however, was immediately answered by senior Bulldog Riley Gauer. He ran an 84-yard kickoff return all the way into the end zone. Another good conversion by Ramirez widened the score to 28-13.

The final push of the victory came again from Karges. He added another 8 yards to his rushing stats (155 total for the night) and put one more touchdown on the Bulldog score. When the lights went out, the score remained at 34-13.

Leading the defense were: Karges -eight tackles, Jacob Sandvig – five tackles, Tate Stricherz – the Bulldogs’ lone interception, and Jordan Riley – the lone fumble recovery.

Coach Adolph Shepardson added, “We improved to 3-0 in the NEC and will win the title outright with a victory at Sisseton on October 12. This would give us back-to-back NEC titles.”

The Bulldogs return to their home field on Friday, October 5. They host the Quarriers from Dell Rapids. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.