Bulldog starting Q.B. Jarron Linge looks downfield for one of his receivers during the Bulldogs loss to Faith Lutheran.
The Virgin Valley High School Bulldogs could not overcome a slow start and were overwhelmed by defending Division 1-A Champion Faith Lutheran High School 40-6 Friday night in Las Vegas. The Crusaders jumped on the Dawgs early scoring 28 points in the first quarter. Faith’s Greg Benson teamed up with Christian Marshall for a 42 yard touchdown reception minutes into the game. The Bulldogs could not match the Crusaders score as they were held to 2 offensive yards in the first half. Marshall made it 14-0 on a 13 yard T.D. run. Ryan Callan’s second PAT kick was good. Benson hit receiver Mark Rubalcaba on a long touchdown bomb for 69 yards to increase the Crusaders lead to 21-0 with 4:34 remaining in the first period. Faith’s Alfred Soboyejo hit pay dirt from one yard out with one second remaining in the first period. “We just didn’t give ourselves a chance to get started,” said Coach Yori Ludvigson. “We put our defense in a bad position with turn overs. We need not to turn over the ball.It didn’t look like it on the scoreboard but we did play better.”
The Bulldogs defense came to life in the second period holding the high powered Crusaders except for Callan’s 33 yard field goal, until Benson scored with 2:30 remaining. The PAT failed making the score 37-0 in favor of the host Crusaders at the half.
Bulldog runner Junior Paongo slips through the Crusader defense for a nice gain Friday in Las Vegas.
Neither team could score in the third period as defense took over the period. The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard early in the fourth when backup quarterback Cody Jones hit teammate Diego Burriel for a 65 yard score. The Bulldogs two yard PAT attempt failed. Faith’s Callan ended the scoring with a 38 yard field goal making the final score 40-6 in favor of the Crusaders. Bulldog Q.B.s could only manage 114 yards passing on six receptions with Jones getting 97 of them in the second half. Jones led the Bulldogs in rushing with 65 yards followed by Junior Paongo with 46 yards. “We are getting better each week,” said Ludvigson. “Our line play is getting better but we lost another center due to injury. I thought Garret Hafen stepped in and played well. Junior (Paongo) and Cody Jones had nice runs. We can run the ball but we are struggling to run the right routes and hitting our receivers. Our passing game has to get better and it will. We have great young men and are getting better each day.”
The Bulldogs will host Del Sol High School in a 1-A Sunrise League opener, next Friday night. The Dragons are 2-0 defeating common foe Western High School Friday night 46-6.
