Prep Football: CWC wins BDC classic over Eldorado

It took the better part of two days but Carmi-White County outlasted Eldorado in a 37-34 shootout in BDC play.

The game started on Friday night and from the beginning it was clear the offenses would dominate the game. CWC got the first possession and produced a 9-play 64-yard drive featuring a career record-setting 68th reception by Justice Stubblefield, a long completion to Bryce Northcott and a 1-yard touchdown run by Colton Yates.

Eldorado got the ball after a short kickoff and powered their way down the field, mostly on runs from 225-pound running back Trey Vessel, and it was Vessel who ran it in from the 7-yard line for Eldorado's first score. Payton Price ran in the conversion to give the Eagles their only lead of the game at 8-6.

When the Bulldogs got the ball back they moved down the field, mixing runs and passes, to the Eldorado 24-yard line. The Eagles then forced the Bulldogs' only turnover of the game on a fumble-causing sack by Braden Attebury and it looked like Eldorado had seized the momentum.

But the game may have turned on the next play.

A bobbled snap and quick handoff attempt left the ball loose and the Bulldogs All-BDC baseball infielder Easton Stewart scooped up the easy grounder and ran untouched into the end zone. Jake Simon's PAT kick moved the lead to 14-8 as the game headed toward the second quarter.

The Eagles unstoppable running game (444 yards for the game) moved the ball back down the field.

Eldorado was looking at a 4th-and-8 at the Bulldogs 10-yard line with 9:24 left in the half when the officials put the game into a lightning delay. After a wait of over an hour, it was decided to suspend the game until 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Bulldogs made some adjustments overnight to bring an extra defender closer to the line to defend the run. When play resumed on Saturday it was linebacker Wyatt Wienbrecht who made the stop at the five-yard line to stop the drive.

The Bulldogs took over and moved the ball to midfield before electing to punt on 4th-and-2. For the rest of the second quarter it was the only time the defenses controlled the game as they both played "bend but don't break" ball until halftime.

The Eagles got the ball to start the second half and tied the score at 14 on a drive featuring a 39-yard run and a 25-yard touchdown scamper by Price.

The Bulldogs struck back with one of their most impressive drives of the year.

With the Eagles concentrating on defending Stubblefield who had been a thorn in their side the entire first half, CWC quarterback Jake Simon got the protection he needed from his line and went through his progressions to find the speedy Northcott for three completions in the drive ending with their connection on a 15-yarder for the touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 21-14. Simon was a sharp 16-20 for 260 yards in the game.

Eldorado counter-punched, this time scoring through the air on a 13-yard pass from Kale Ogelsby to Max Kasiar. The conversion failed and the Bulldogs were clinging to a tenuous 21-20 lead.

CWC mixed the pass and the run again on the next drive and Andrew Burnett broke free for a 17-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 28-20.

The second big turnover of the game came on the first play of Eldorado's next drive as the Bulldogs pounced on a fumble at the Eldorado 34.

The Bulldogs short drive moved into the fourth quarter and Simon capped it off with a one-yard quarterback keeper moving the lead to 34-20 with 11:08 left.

Eldorado took advantage of a couple of Bulldog penalties and moved to within 34-26 on a one-yard run by Vessel with 7:27 to go.

The Bulldogs took over and then came the back-breaker, as CWC's Burnett broke free for a 54-yard run all the way to the 10-yard line. The Bulldogs were able to force Eldorado to burn a couple of timeouts and then made it a two-possession game on a 24-yard field goal by Simon.

Eldorado moved quickly down the field and Kasiar scored his second touchdown on an outstanding "jump-ball" catch in the end zone.

The Bulldogs' Justin Lamp recovered the on-sides kick and the Bulldogs worked the clock down under a minute before Simon pinned the Eagles deep in their own territory with a punt that rolled out of bounds at the ten.

1 2 3 4 F

Eldorado 8 0 12 14 34

Carmi-White Co. 14 0 14 9 37

SCORING PLAYS

First Quarter

CWC - Colton Yates 1 run (Jake Simon kick), 7:39

ELD - Tre Vessel 7 run (Payton Price run), 4:29

CWC - Easton Stewart 34 fumble return (Simon kick), 1:37

Third Quarter

ELD - Price 25 run (run failed), 9:50

CWC - Bryce Northcott 15 catch from Simon (Simon kick), 8:26

ELD - Max Kasiar 13 catch from Kale Ogelsby (run failed), 4:43

CWC - Andrew Burnett 17 run (Simon kick), 1:39

Fourth Quarter

CWC - Simon 1 run (kick failed), 11:08

ELD - Vessel 1 run (run failed), 7:27

CWC - Simon 24 field goal 4:08

ELD - Kasiar 20 catch from Ogelsby (Price run), 2:50

ELD CWC

28 First Downs 24

50-444 Rushing 36-164

4-9-0 Pass-Att-INT 16-20-0

59 Passing Yards 260

503 Total Offense 424

2-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1

2 Turnovers 1

4-8 3rd Down Conv. 4-9

2-4 4th Down Conv. 1-1

4-35 Penalty 5-55

0-0-0.0 Punts 2-81-40.5

23:25 Possession 24:35

RUSHING (Att-Yds-TD)

Eld: Payton Price 19-257-1, Tre Vessel 19-141-2, Jacob Traxler 9-39-0, Kale Ogelsby 2-5-0, Wayne Roberts 1-2-0. CWC: Andrew Burnett 24-141-1, Jake Simon 5-13-1, Bryce Northcott 4-12-0, Colton Yates 2-3-1, Wyatt Weinbrecht 1-(-5)-0.

PASSING (Att-Comp-INT-Yds-TD)

Eld: Kale Ogelsby 4-9-0-59-2. CWC: Jake Simon 16-20-0-260-1

RECEIVING (Rec-Yds-TD)

Eld: Max Kasiar 3-58-2, Jacob Traxler 1-1-0. CWC: Justice Stubblefield 7-102-0, Bryce Northcott 5-109-1, Colton Yates 3-32-0, Easton Stewart 1-17-0.