Bulldogs Wrap Up Football Season

The Milbank Bulldogs wrapped up their 2019 football season with a 43-6 loss to the Tea Area Titans on Friday, October 18 in Tea. The Dawgs logged a 2-7 record for the year.

“This was a tough way to end the season,” said Milbank’s head coach, Adolph Shepardson. “Despite our tough schedule, we were very competitive all year long. With our youth, we fully expect to be an improved team next year. We really have to get stronger over the off-season, but we look forward to the challenges ahead.”

Highlights of Milbank vs. Tea Milbank received the ball to start the game, but were held to a three and out. Tea displayed its talent by returning the Bulldog punt 48 yards for the opening touchdown. Bennett Schwenn intercepted a Tea pass midway through the first quarter, but Tea returned the favor and intercepted a Bulldog pass. Tea converted it into a seven-yard touchdown run and increased the Titan’s lead to 13-0.

The Bulldog defense held Tea to just a field goal early in the second period. The score moved to 16-0, but Tea found the end zone again just before halftime on a one yard run to widen the gap to 23-0.

The Titans opened the second half with a 40-yard touchdown run and a good extra point kick to extend their lead to 30-0. Nearing the end of the third quarter, Tea again found the end zone on a nine-yard touchdown run to move the score to 36-0.

Tea’s final touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 22-yard run. They led 43-0. With the clock running, and time nearing the end, Bulldog quarterback Kaden Krause connected with senior wide receiver Max McCulloch for a 28-yard touchdown. The extra point kick by Carlos Ramirez failed. When the horn sounded, the final score sat at 43-6.

“Tea was the best team we played this season,” said Coach Shepardson. “They are big, strong, fast, and physical. Our kids really hung in there the first half and battled hard. We had a few breaks that didn’t go our way that gave Tea a nice lead at halftime despite the competitiveness of the game. I really thought we played well on defense in the first half.”

Milbank ended the game with 109 yards of offense including 74 yards passing and 35 yards rushing. Tea tacked up 254 yards of offense with 230 yards rushing and 24 yards passing.

Krause completed 5-22 passing for 74 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Brodie Holtquist led the ground attack for Milbank with 20 yards on eight carries. Sawyer Gauer added seven yards on three totes. Schwenn and Michael Karges contributed five yards each. McCulloch led the air attack with 47 yards on three catches. Schwenn caught one pass for 24 yards, and Holtquist had a three-yard reception.

For the defense, Schwenn led the Dawgs with nine tackles. McCulloch and Holtquist followed with six tackles each. Nick Ruhr and Connor Bender added four apiece. Also playing key roles for the defense were Bryan Wiese and Toby Schneck with three tackles apiece and Karson Weber, Breyden Miller, Angel Chen, and Maddox Hanson with two tackles each.

Fourteen seniors concluded their high school football career. They include: Sam Seffrood, Max McCulloch, Noah Steinlicht, Breyden Miller, Carlos Ramirez, Brodie Holtquist, JD Lusk, Dillon Schneck, Elijah Fraasch, Alex Schuelke, Angel Chen, Jorge Calderon, Bryan Wiese,
and Evan Erickson.

Photo – (l. to r.) Dillon Schneck, Kaden Krause, and Will Cummins