The Hampton-Dumont-CAL football team used big plays and dazzling performances to topple Woodward-Granger 57-36 in Friday’s first round of the Class 2A football playoffs, as aired on 104.9 KLMJ. It was the program’s first playoff win since 2015.
The Bulldogs had several short drives for quick scores, and backed it up with clutch stops on defense. In the first half, Blaek Burmester delivered a 39-yard touchdown pass to Brody Strother, his first of two touchdown receptions. Then, Burmester found Aaden Keehn for the first of three touchdown connections.
After a Woodward-Granger score which shifted momentum, Ryder Strother took it back with a 97-yard house call on the kickoff return.
Defensively, the Bulldogs created pressure on a heavy passing attack from the opponent, and they created several turnover on downs in the red zone. Jacob Mahler added to the lead with a 61-yard touchdown run, and Maddon Evans had a pick-six. Evans says the team was able to turn around from a slow start to the season and put themselves on the map in Class 2A.
“We started 1-3, and we could have taken it two ways,” Evans says. “We could have let it get to us and just stop. But instead, we came back. We came back stronger. And we’re here to prove a point and show that this is us and we’re ready to win.”
“The big plays were huge because they were stacking the box to shut down the run, and our playmakers on the perimeter were able to get open,” Head Coach Cole Miller says. “Blaek was able to give them a good ball and we had some dudes making some plays tonight on the perimeter. And then when they finally backed out of it, that first drive of the third quarter we were able to take advantage of it, hit a seam and bust off a big run. When we’re dynamic like that and we can take advantage of what the defense is trying to take away by going the other way and still being successful, that’s going to be huge for us.”
Burmester was 11/15 for 285 yards and five touchdowns, and the team racked up 395 yards on offense.
The Bulldogs have advanced to next week’s second round at Osage.
