The trip to Dilley Friday seemed long, especially if you are on a bus, but the ride home was a short. The Bulldogs had pulled off a huge upset Friday night defeating the Dilley Wolves on the road. The Bulldogs are 4-0 on the road this year and this game was not as close as the score indicated.

John Morgan Ross led the Bulldogs Friday night with his seasons’ best performance with 199 yards in the air. Ross had nine completions out of twelve attempts and also had 26 yards rushing.

The Bulldogs took the opening kick off down the field easily behind a pass completion from Ross to Wes Roberts and a boomer of a pass completion to Trevor Wells for 46 yards. Senior Jeff Whitney contributed with his hard running ground game on a fourth and 2 with a 3 yard run to place the ball on the 10-yard line. Unable to get past the 5-yard line after the Dilley defense dug in, the Bulldogs called on Jose Sanchez for the field goal. Sanchez made it look easy with his “one step kicking style. The Bulldogs led 3-0.

Dilley’s crowd was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It wasn’t what they expected and their team answered with a field goal of their own from the 9-yard line with 5 minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs controlled the ball the rest of the first quarter starting at their 11-yard line. A pass completion good for 21 yards from Ross to Troy Chowns and a Jeff Whitney 45 yard breakaway run were the highlights for this drive. Wells scored on a 3 yard run and Sanchez chipped in the point after. The Bulldogs ended the first quarter leading 9-3.

The Bulldog defense stopped the first drive of the second quarter quickly and Larry Hatten returned the punt to the Bulldogs 42 yard line. The Bulldogs made two more first downs before turning the ball over on fourth and 4.

The Wolves’ next drive ended when Troy Chowns intercepted the pass and returned it 10 yards to the 27-yard line. Ross and Wells hooked up on a 33 yard pass and Whitney then turned in a 7 and then 6 yard gain respectively. Since it worked so well before, Wells went out and Ross threw him the ball again for 33 yards, but this time it ended in the endzone. Sanchez kicked the point after and the Bulldogs led 17-3.

The Bulldog defense ended the second quarter strong with a quarterback sack coming from Kaleb Gee for a six-yard loss as the quarter ended.

Dilley took the second half kickoff. Sanchez kicked the ball high into the air and it came down on the 22-yard line. Wells was there as it dropped and Wells dropped the Wolves player on his own 22. The rest of the game remained pretty much the same for both squads, defensive battles by both sides.

The Bulldogs next drive was Ross passing, this time to Kaleb Tichavsky for 18 yards, Wells for 8 and Larry Hatten for 15. Whitney was again doing rushing duty, but the drive ended after a Bulldog fumble.

Dilley started their second drive in the third quarter and got off four plays before the quarter ended. Hatten and Roberts teamed up on coverage on a fourth and 6 yards to go play with Roberts knocking down the ball. The Bulldogs took possession but the drive ended on a pass interception by the Wolves.

Dilley’s next drive was their only possession in the game to result in three first downs, but was thwarted when Wells forced a fumble and Pon Sophiab recovered for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were shut down by the hard fighting Dilley defense and Ross came in and boomed a 45-yard punt. Dilley scored on this drive with 4 minutes left in the game on a 15 yard run.

Dilley called their last time out two plays after the kickoff. The Bulldogs used running backs Whitney, Chowns and Wells on the ground to run off the last remaining minutes. With 18 seconds on the clock Dilley got the ball back on their own 35-yard line, but Roberts ended the Wolves hopes with an interception.

Rushing: Wells 11-39, Whitney 17-98, Ross 7-26, and Chowns 8-21.

Passing: Ross 9 completions, 12 attempts, 1 interception, 199 yards

Receiving: Roberts 1-8, Hatten 1-15, Chowns 2-38, Tichavsky 1-18 and Wells 8-120.