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Paynesville Press - October 26, 2005

Last-second touchdown downs Dogs

By Michael Jacobson

Benson scored the winning touchdown on a 55-yard pass play in the final minute to beat the Bulldogs 21-14 in football on Wednesday, Oct. 19, in Paynesville.

Both teams scored 14 points in the second quarter and then played 23 minutes of scoreless football in the fourth quarter. Benson got the ball on their own 15-yard line following a Bulldog punt with a minute to play. A 30-yard run moved the ball to midfield. Then, after spiking the ball, the Braves connected on a 55-yard touchdown pass for the game-winning score.

A Paynesville defensive back deflected the pass but lost his footing while doing so. The deflected pass settled in the arms of the Benson receiver who raced down the left sideline for the winning touchdown.

tackle The Dogs had had the upperhand in the fourth quarter until Benson's game-winning drive. First, the Dogs drove 63 yards in 13 plays, moving the ball deep into Benson territory. The drive, however, stalled after having first and ten at the Benson 11-yard line. And the Dogs turned the ball over on downs.

Junior Issac Jones (64) and sophomore Colby Peterson (62) gang tackle this Benson ballcarrier last week.

The Dogs, though, forced Benson to punt and got the ball back around midfield with just over two minutes to play. But the Dogs failed to get a first down and punted the ball back to the Braves, pinning Benson deep into their territory.

The Braves drove 85 yards in three plays for the winning score.

After Benson threw an incompletion in the Dogs' end zone on fourth down of their first drive, the Dogs drove the length of the field, going 93 yards in 14 plays and scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Junior Aaron Burris, playing fullback, scored on a two-yard run to give the Dogs a 6-0 lead just seconds in the quarter.

Benson, however, answered with a 52-yard scoring drive. The Braves made their extra-point kick and took a 7-6 lead.

The Dogs then threw an interception, giving the ball to Benson at the Dogs' 29-yard line. Three plays later, Benson had a 14-6 lead.

The Dogs were forced to punt again on their next possession, but sophomore Kevin Klein stepped in front of a Benson pass on second and 20 and raced down the sideline for a touchdown. Senior quarterback Jamie Paul hit sophomore end Alex Svejkovsky for the two-point conversion, tying the game 14-14.

touchdown The Dogs drove into Benson once more in the second quarter, once in the third quarter, and once in the fourth quarter, but could not score on any of these possessions, turning the ball over on downs each time.

Sophomore Kevin Klein raced down the sideline to score a touchdown on an interception return in the second quarter on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The Dogs' defense, meanwhile, held the Braves to 55 yards and three first downs in the second half until their game-winning drive.

Trailing 21-14, the Dogs got the ball back at their own 26-yard line with 30 seconds to play. The Dogs drive 34 yards in four plays before time ran out.

Junior Alex Naujokas caught 10 passes for 110 yards, his second game with 100 yards receiving this season. With 10 receptions, he broke the school record of nine receptions in a game, previously set by Dean Stanger against Benson in 1984. Naujokas got his record-setting catch on the last play of the game, a 15-yard completion.

The Dogs finished 1-5 in the West Central Conference South, tied with Lac Qui Parle Valley. ACGC, BOLD, and Yellow Medicine East, which beat ACGC last week, tied for the conference title at 5-1.

The Dogs were seeded seventh in Section 5AA. The seedings are as follows: (1) ACGC; (2) Holdingford; (3) Mayer Lutheran; (4) Eden Valley-Watkins; (5) Norwood Young America; (6) Howard Lake-Waverly; (7) Paynesville; (8) Kimball.

The Dogs played at Holdingford in the section quarterfinals on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. The Huskers beat the Bulldogs 39-8 in the season opener for both teams in September.

Should they win, the Dogs would advance to the section semifinals either at Mayer Lutheran or Howard Lake-Waverly on Saturday, Oct. 29, also at 7 p.m.

Benson--0 14 07-- 21
Paynesville--0 14 00 -- 14

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
No scoring.
Second Quarter
Pay-Aaron Burris 2 run (kick missed);
Ben-Tony Holleman 16 run (Joey Fragodt kick);
Ben-Holleman 8 run (Fragodt kick);
Pay-Kevin Klein 34 interception return (Alex Svejkovsky pass from Jamie Paul);
Third Quarter
No scoring.
Fourth Quarter
Ben-Aaron Hagen 55 pass from Michael Arndt (Fragodt kick).

Individual Statistics
Rushing (attempts-yards-TDs): Matt Hansen 6-49; Aaron Burris 9-30-1; Randy Leyendecker 11-26; Greg Price 2-4; Brett Savelkoul 1-2; Kevin Klein 1- (-2); Jamie Paul 9-(-13);
Passing (completions-attempts-yards-INTs): Paul 15-24-173; Klein 1-2-9-1;
Receiving (receptions-yards-TDs): Alex Naujokas 10-110; Alex Svejkovsky 3-38; Burris 2-25; Paul 1-9;
Interceptions: Klein;
Sacks: Brad Torborg 1; Joe Fry 1;
Kickoffs: David Christensen 2-75-37.5; Sam Bayer 1-30-30.0;
Kickoff Returns: Savelkoul 2-31; Naujokas 1-(-5);
Punts: Burris 3-101-33.7;
Punt Returns: Naujokas 1-25.



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