Bulldogs go OFF-ensive
Bulldogs go OFF-ensive
Via the air and ground game, the Bulldogs offense scored 8 touchdowns en route to 63-
27 win
BELLINGHAM, Wash- The only thing hotter than the Bellingham Bulldogs offense on Saturday
was the mid 80’s heat wave sweeping through the city. For the last two weeks the Bulldogs’
offense has been trying to find its stride, relying on a stifling Bulldog defense to pick up wins. On
a simmering hot Civic Field turf, the Bulldogs offense finally began to boil and exploded for its
biggest outing of the year, 63 points. The offensive assault improved the Dogs’ record to 5-0,
where they sit comfortably atop the NAFL Western Division standings.
After missing the first two weeks of the season, then playing away at Grays Harbor two weeks
ago, Bulldog quarterback Mark Simmons put on a show in his homecoming debut for the
Bellingham faithful. With laser slant patterns and perfectly architected fade patterns, Simmons
tossed four touchdowns to three different Bulldog receivers.
“We’re all in rhythm right now,” Simmons said. “Besides one bad read I made at the beginning
of the game, they couldn’t stop us. The offense won today. The [Bears] were talking a lot about
how we were overrated, so we wanted to put up a lot of points to shut them up.”
Just as Simmons’ aerial display overpowered a weak Bears defense, the Bulldogs’ ground
game enjoyed success as well on the legs of workhorse back Chase Cantrell, who scored two
times, and Brett Hall, who ran for over 100 yards and earned a touchdown to add to his own stat
line.
Even “the sledgehammer,” Bulldog fullback Andy Fulton, worked his way into the scoring mix.
With the game out of reach and the Dogs trying to run out the clock, Fulton took his lone handoff
of the game up the middle, right through the Bears’ line and thundered 42-yards to pay dirt, as
he beat the Bears’ last line of defense to the goal line.
“It was refreshing to really see our offense come together,” Bulldogs’ head coach Phil Smith
said after the game. “That was the best offensive performance I’ve seen from our guys in two
years.”
Despite no team scoring more than 20 points against the Bulldogs the last two years, and the
Bears posting 27 on Saturday, the Bulldog defense came up with key plays when the Dogs
needed them.
On the opening drive of the game, the Bears were primed to score as they were set up on the
Bulldogs’ 7-yard line on third-and-6. At the snap, Bulldog linebacker Steve Faoro forced his way
through the Bears’ line, nailed all 285 pounds of Bears’ quarterback Don Purser, causing the big
quarter back to fumble. The Dogs recovered the fumbled and avoided early disaster.
After a prompt three-and-out by the Bulldogs, Purser looked to the right and tried to hit his wide
out on a seam pattern. Purser’s receiver wasn’t looking for the ball and Bulldog defensive back,
AJ Hay, stepped in front of it. With a convoy of Bulldog black and Vegas Gold ahead, Hay took
the interception 70 yards to the house for the first score of the game.
“I lined up on their number two receiver and checked the quarterback,” Hay said. “I broke down,
made the catch and Jimmy [Nightingale] paved the way for me, and I walked in.”
Bulldog linebacker Jimmy Nightingale, and defensive back’s Donovan Dunmore and Jay
Zimmerman, all had interceptions of their own to go along with Hay’s.
Bears’ running back EJ Ash ran all over the Bulldogs in the first half and found many open holes
in the Bulldogs’ bear formation defense. Ash had nearly 100 yards rushing in the first half and
ran for a 7-yard touchdown that brought the Bears back to 21-14 with just 1:12 remaining in the
first half.
“We switched back to our normal 4-3 defense after halftime and it was a good switch,” coach
Smith said. “Our defense got a real challenge today and they responded well. All in all it was a
huge victory for us.”
After Ash’s touchdown, the Bulldogs showed their resolve. After a brilliant return from human
highlight reel, Bulldog wide out Eric Taylor, that placed the Dogs on the Bears’ 37, Simmons
found Taylor on a deep slant pattern for a 19-yard strike and score that put the Bulldogs up 28-
14 heading into the break.
After the half, and after defensive adjustments were made, the Dogs’ defensive held strong and
the offense continued to thrive.
After connecting with Bulldog wide out Jesh Morgan in the first half, the duo was up to their old
tricks again in the second. Half way through the third quarter Simmons found Morgan on a deep
fade route in the end zone. Initially the ball looked out of reach, but Morgan was able to haul it in
off a defenders deflection.
“Well the route was originally supposed to be a hitch-and-go,” Morgan said. “He was backed off,
so I just had to beat him. I looked up for the ball at the last second, he tipped it and I just used
my concentration to bring it in.”
Ash scored again from 12 yards out late in the third to bring the Bears back within 14, 35-21.
But, the Bulldogs offense poured it on with a Cantrell 4-yard touchdown run, a Hall 15-yard
touchdown run, a 22-yard connection from Simmons to Bulldog wide out Nick Gavigan and the
42-yard scamper to close things out from Fulton.
Simmons was able to share the ball around to all his receivers and Morgan, Taylor, Gavigan,
Ryan Holewinski and Corey Culp all caught multiple passes.
“It’s good for their confidence and their confidence in me,” Simmons said. “They have to buy into
the offense and they do when I distribute the ball to them. It makes me feel good and everybody
loves scoring touchdowns.”
The Bulldogs have now completed the first set of their games and have worked their way to
an unscathed 5-0 record. Next Saturday the Bulldogs travel south, where they will square off
against the Portland Raiders, who they beat 34-0 in the season opener at Civic Field.