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Dakota Lawdawgs Declaw Panthers, Capture 3rd Straight Title |
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| By MLFScout Admin |
| September 21, 2008 9:55AM |
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Article By: Kim Taylor
www.lawdawgs.net
Sioux Falls, SD: When the day started neither team would have predicted the 62-7 victory by the Lawdawgs after the two teams battled to a 36 to 30 game earlier this season. Despite the offensive output on the day the defense perhaps stole the show with a team record of 11 forced turnovers. With the only Panther score coming on a kickoff return during the first half with the Lawdawgs already ahead 34 to 0. The swarming Lawdawgs defense did not yield a touchdown and did not yield a first down until the Panthers final drive of the 1st half up 41 to 7.
The Panthers 1st seven possessions of the 1st half accounted for a total negative 15 yards of total offense, while the Lawdawgs defenders intercepted 2 passes and recovered 5 fumbles. The final drive of the 1st, for the Panthers gained 25 yards before Ray Wilson intercepted a pass finalizing the 1st half with 8 turnovers and 10 yards of total offense for the Panthers. Bobby Clayborn recovered 2 fumbles in the 1st half while Marc and Dan Phillips each hand paws on a recovery along with Bret Gabert. Phil Nystrom and Johnny Bentley added interceptions to go along with Wilson’s.
While the defense did their part the offense was not to be overlooked on this day. Solis took to the air completing 12 of 18 passes for 231 yards and 4 touchdown passes and added a rushing touchdown as well. Solis was on top of his game connecting with James Holmes for the 1st touchdown pass on a 21 yard strike and on his next pass he would hit Josh Robinson for 42 yards putting the Dawgs up 13-0. The third TD strike went to Johnny Bentley for 13 yards (20-0) and the fourth went to Will Walker who rumbled in from 25 yards out (27-0). Solis would hand the next score to Ray Wilson on a 4 yard run to put the Lawdawgs up 34 to 0 and Art would push the score to 41 to 7 minutes later with a 10 yard run. The rushing game added a modest 72 yards on 18 attempts and the Lawdawgs totaled 303 yards in the 1st half.
The 2nd half would see less scoring for the Lawdawgs however the team came out right away, capping off a 55 yard drive with a 1 yard touchdown run by James Augustus. The Panthers mustered a 6 play 45 yard drive before Johnny Bentley scooped up another Panther fumble and raced 70 yards to pay dirt. The versatile Mr. Bentley scored on both offense and defense, recovered a fumble, intercepted a pass and threw in five tackles to boot. Solis would connect with Trae Johnson on a 9 yard pass as well for his 5th touchdown pass of the game.
Many Lawdawgs defenders played a part in the outstanding effort but tackles were hard to come by with the 11 turnovers and 24 incomplete passes. The Panthers finished with a total of 81 total yards of offense while the Lawdawgs topped out at 498 yards of total offense. Solis finished the night 20 for 27 for 364 yards.
By beating the Panthers the Lawdawgs captured their 3rd straight North Central Division title in the NAFL. During that time span the team has not dropped a division game, last losing to a division opponent in 2005. The team will not have much time to bask in the glow as they head to St. Paul, Minnesota this Sunday to take on the 7 and 1 St. Paul Pioneers ranked 19th by the American football top 25 poll. The game will be played in St. Paul, MN at Humboldt HS at 2pm. The Lawdawgs move to 10-2 on the season and are 8-1 in the NAFL. For more information on the team please contact our office at 605-528-3099 or the team cell at 605-728-2139. Or log on to the team website at www.lawdawgs.net or e-mail the team at dakotalawdawgs@hotmail.com. |
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