Union-Bulletin

DAYTON - Weston-McEwen's Michael Guerrero recovered a perfectly executed pooch kick on the TigerScots' opening kickoff here Thursday in non-conference football action, and W-M never looked back.

Weston-McEwen was led by the three rushing touchdowns and two passing TDs from quarterback Dallas Reich as the TigerScots went on to a 43-0 victory over Dayton.

"That (kickoff) was nice," TigerScot coach Kenzie Hansell said. "We saw it (the opportunity) right there at the beginning. It was planned and the kids executed well. We got the ball and marched down. It took us a little while to get in."

Reich ran the option on the TigerScots' first play after Guerrero's recovery at the Dayton 38. Reich broke through the Bulldog defensive front and went 34 yards to the Bulldog 4.

The Bulldog defense stiffened. Six-foot, 2-inch, 270-pound defensive lineman Kroft Sunderland stopped Elliot Salter after a yard gain on first down. Sunderland and Hayden Fullerton stopped Salter for a loss of two on the TigerScots' second down.

Colton Bickelhaupt broke up Reich's pass on third down, but on fourth-and-goal from the Dayton 5, Reich scrambled into the end zone. Tyler Peterson ran in the 2-point conversion and the TigerScots were off and running with an 8-0 lead with two minutes gone in the game.

"That (onsides kick) kind of started the whole thing," Bulldog coach Dean Bickelhaupt said. "It kind of landslided after they got that.

"The kids don't give up," Bickelhaupt said of the goal-line stand. "We held them in three downs. We've just got too many holes (due to injuries) and it's just tough to fill those holes right now, especially against a good club and Weston-McEwen is the real deal. They're one of the better teams that I've seen."

The Bulldogs went three-and-out on their first possession. Salter took the Dayton punt at his 36 and raced 54 yards to the Dayton 10 before being hauled in.

Reich went in from the 2, Salter ran in the conversion and the TigerScots led 16-0 with half the first quarter gone.

And it got worse for the Bulldogs. On the next TigerScot possession, a flag - one of seven first-quarter penalties on a night that saw both teams combine to draw 21 fouls for the game - flew following a Reich-to-Salter 65-yard TD catch-and-run.

A discussion followed after Reich was ejected on the play. Hansell questioned the decision, and after the officials huddled, Reich was re-instated, but Dayton's Fullerton was ejected for an unsportsman-like hit on Reich, making an already depleted (due to the loss of Lowden Smith with a broken arm in last week's 26-14 win over Enterprise) Bulldog running back corps even thinner.

"It was a miscommunication," Hansell said. "The officials got it right and that's the most important thing."

The Reich-to-Salter TD was called back as W-M had an ineligible receiver down field. Dayton defender Bickelhaupt picked Reich's pass on the next play at the TigerScot 47 and returned to the W-M 33, but the Bulldogs could not penetrate the TigerScot defense and the quarter ended with W-M on top 16-0.

The TigerScots added two more scores in the second period on a short two-yard plunge by Reich and a 32-yard pass play from Reich to Jared Bond, and W-M went to intermission up 30-0.

The TigerScots took the second-half kickoff and marched 53 yards in seven plays, with Reich hitting Nick Lively on an 11-yard scoring pass to cap the drive and produce a 37-0 lead with 9:29 left in the third.

Both teams turned the game over to their benches the rest of the way.

"We need to forget about it (the loss)," coach Bickelhaupt said, "and get healthy and go on to the next step and play football like we can. As soon as we can put it all together, we'll be fine. We've just got to do it."

The TigerScots hit on all cylinders in improving to 3-0 on the season:

Special teams had the kickoff recovery and the 54-yard punt return.

The offense put 43 points on the board.

The defense got two sacks from Nick Pease, a combined sack from Peterson and Greg Papineau, and limited the Bulldogs to minus-24 yards of offense.

"The kids flew around and had fun, and we're happy with the win," Hansell said. "Our defense played fantastic. They are being responsible for their assignments and they realize that 11 guys make the play, not just one or two."

Dayton drops to 2-1 and has a bye before opening Southeast 2B-11 action when Tri-Cities Prep visits Sept. 30.

"Having that bye week is such a big thing," Bickelhaupt said. "It's going to be sweet (to get kids healthy). We'll just keep pecking away."

The undefeated TigerScots also take a week off before hosting Pilot Rock Sept. 30 in the Blue Mountain Conference opener.

"There are things that we need to do better," Hansell said. "We'll use the bye week to get better and get ready for league."

Weston-McEwen 43, Dayton 0

WM 16 14 7 6 - 43

Dayton 0 0 0 0 - 0

W-M - Reich 5 run (Peterson run).

W-M - Reich 2 run (Salter run).

W-M - Reich 2 run (Terjeson pass from Reich).

W-M - Bond 32 pass from Reich (pass failed).

W-M - Lively 11 pass from Reich (McAllister kick).

W-M - McAllister 3 run (kick failed).

W-M Day

First Downs 12 2

Rushes/Yards 36-226 29-(-23)

Passing Yards 78 (-1)

Passes (att-comp-int) 13-6-1 6-1-0

Penalties 10-80 11-61

Punts 2-23.0 9-28.9

Fumbles-Lost 5-1 7-1

Individuals Statistics

RUSHING - W-M: Reich 9-90, Salter 8-41, Lively 2-7, Peterson 4-31, Bond 1-(-3), McAllister 7-56, Gilsdorf 1-15, Washbum 2-0, Sprenger 1-(-4), Team 1-(-6). Day: Fullerton 4-(-3), Bickelhaupt 3-(-11), Lambert 8-18, Hackett 3-6, Sanchez 3-3, Warner 3-9, Team 5-(-45).

PASSING - W-M: Reich 6-13-1, 78 yards, 2 touchdowns. Day: Bickelhaupt 1-6-0, (-1) yards.

RECEIVING - W-M: Salter 1-5, Lively 3-32-1, Peterson 1-9, Bond 1-32-1. Day: Fullerton 1-(-1).