The tears flowed freely, guys were sobbing. This marked the end of Bulldog football for 28 gentleman. A season with highs and lows ended with a bang against the Omaha Bryan Bears on senior night.
A 3rd-and-17 screen pass that senior Jayden Songster turned into an eye-popping highlight started the scoring early in the first quarter. The Dawgs struck twice more with touchdowns from senior Trevon Weaver and junior Kade Wroot.
Bryan struck back on a long touchdown pass, cutting the deficit to 21-6. Bryan tried a surprise onside which bounced into the air and was snagged by junior Jacob Harvey. He reversed field and wound up in open field, taking it 50 yards to the end zone. The Dawg defense forced a 3-and-out and it was Weaver again, taking a screen pass from senior Kort Steele, 51 yards for the score.
Down 35-6, the Bears couldn’t get moving on offense and lined up to punt out of their own end zone. Sophomore Nick Bocott made sure the ball didn’t exit the end zone. Flying around the end, shedding a blocker, he got close, dove, and knocked the ball to the turf where it was scooped up by sophomore Aiden Arensdorf for the score. The Dawgs got 7 more on a pass from Steele to junior Bryson Krull.
At the half, the Dawgs coaches reminded the players that this was their last time on the field together. They told the seniors to try their hardest as long as they were in; some tears were shed.
The Dawgs kept rolling, allowing just six points from that point and adding 10 more of their own for a 59-12 victory.
Near the end, emotions flowed. “It goes by too fast,” Weaver said as he went around to the younger guys telling them to take advantage of their time and not let it get away from them. The seniors left their marks on this team, and it will be interesting to see what they do in the future.
The Lady Dawgs golf team also finished up their season on a high note. Their season ended at the State Tournament. The whole team qualified for the tournament after a third place finish at districts. “We went into the season not thinking we would make state, but we got third, and we beat the number two team after starting number four,” Senior Morgan Lashley said.
The team shot an 800 over the course of the tournament. That put the team in 12th. Lashley was a key bright spot for the Lady Dawgs. She shot a 169 which was good for a share of 7th place.
“I medaled. That was my top goal. I could’ve done better, but I really enjoyed that back nine because it was one of my personal best,” Lashley said.
As a senior, this year’s State tournament was the last time she would step on the links as a Bulldog. “It was really sad. I was bawling afterwards. I was satisfied with how I played, but I couldn’t not cry,” she said.
Lashley holds a few offers to play at the next level, but currently is undecided on her plan for next year.
The Lady Dawgs golfers and football team aren’t the only Bulldogs who punctuated their season with an exclamation point.
Senior Branton Flanders closed down his season on the second day of the tennis State Tournament. Flanders had a first round bye followed by consecutive wins, putting himself, the fourth seed, up against the No. 1 seed. He dropped the match, but still wound up fourth in the tournament. “I [came in as] the fourth seed, so it was pretty much perfect,” he said.
Flanders felt like he ended his last season as a Bulldog well. “I did pretty good. I could’ve done better in the semifinals, but happens. It was a pretty good finish,” he said.
The Lady Dawgs softball also wound down their season at the state tournament. Winning their district, the Dawgs pulled into Hastings on a roll. As the No. 6 team in the tournament, they faced off against York in the first round. The Lady Dawgs fell to the Dukes 7-5. They followed that up with a thrilling 13-9 victory over Wayne. They would then fall to the eventual state runner up Gretna 10-2, ending their time at the state tournament.
“We could’ve always done better, but we did better than last year, so we can’t be mad about it,” senior Tea Guerra said. “I definitely don’t regret anything from the season or [the seniors’] careers. We kind of just came to terms with it at the end.”
The Lady Dawgs graduate several senior starters, but the team retains junior slugger Taylar Coleman, and a few other key players from this year’s team.
These seasons may be over, but there are still lots of Bulldog games, meets, and matches left this year. Turn the page for a preview of the upcoming winter sports season.