PHS football team defeats LPGE; advances to playoffs

This article submitted by Zac Spates on 10/27/98.

Oct. 22, marked the end of the regular season for the Bulldogs, although that nights game was just as important for the playoffs as the regular playoffs itself. Paynesville knew they had to beat Long Prairie to make the playoffs or else they would just have to sit and watch. The Bulldogs came out on top 18-6.

You could tell the Bulldogs were ready to play on the opening kickoff as the Bulldogs line showed the Thunder how hard they could hit.

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs and the Thunder battled back and forth for the ball, as neither team could advance up the field on the other. The Bulldogs managed to gain good field position at the end of the first quarter, putting them in scoring position.

At the start of the second quarter with Paynesville on the 12-yard line, quarterback Josh Roemeling passed to Josh Jones for a 12-yard touchdown on the opening play. After the failed two point conversion, Paynesville led 6-0.

Exactly 17 seconds later, the Thunder found a hole in the Bulldogs defense for a split second and took advantage of it. The quarterback for the Thunder threw a pass to one of their receivers, resulting in a 66-yard touchdown play. As Paynesvilleís lead was blown, the Bulldogs knew they had to step up to beat Long Prairie. Sophmore TJ Schultz did just that as he intercepted a pass from the Long Prairie offense. Both teams struggled to score to take the lead in the second quarter, however, at halftime the score was still 6-6.

During halftime as the Thunder were celebrating parentís night, the Bulldogs were planning their attack against LPGE. As Paynesville kicked off at the start of the third quarter, the defense was getting ready to play one of their best quarters of the year. As the defense dominated the field, LPGE was forced to punt the ball to Paynesville, which started the downfall of the Thunder defense. Paynesville failed to score on this drive, but as the Thunder received the ball for the second time of the quarter, senior Josh Jones recovered a fumble by one of the Thunder running backs. As the clock neared eight minutes in the third quarter, Paynesville was in position to score, as they were on the 14-yard line. Jeff Voss, on the second play of the drive, drove the ball down to the one-yard line. Roemeling then took the ball and with a quarterback sneak, scored a touchdown to take the lead once again.

AS Paynesville was now ahead 12-0, the Thunder were shaken and they fell apart as the Paynesville defense recovered one fumble by Jones, and Schultz intercepted another to stop the Thunder offense on their first plays of two drives.

As the quarter neared the end, Paynesville halfback Ben Bork, threw a pass to Jones to score once again as he had a 40-yard reception on that play. The score ended up to be 18-6, at the end of that quarter.

In the fourth quarter, both teams went away scoreless, but still the Bulldog defense dominated the Long Prairie offense. The game ended as Paynesville was victorious, with the final score being 18-6.

Paynesville: 0 6 12 0ñ 18
LPGE: 0 6 0 0ñ 6

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