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Lane Dilly carried the football 42 times for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns on Thursday as the Ottertail Central Bulldogs remained unbeaten on the season, claiming the Section 4 9-Player championship with a 34-12 victory over Border West at the Fargodome. OTC finished with 312 rushing yards and 63 passing yards for a total yardage figure of 375. The Bulldogs recorded 23 first downs on the day and had the football for over 35 minutes.
Dilly scored the first touchdown of the day on a 5 yard run and Mason Dalluge followed with a successful two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead with 8:29 left in the opening quarter. Teigan Bjerke then recovered a muffed punt and the Bulldogs scored early in the second quarter on a 10 yard run by Dalluge and a two-point run by Dilly, increasing their lead to 16-0 with 11:15 left in the first half. Brody Nachbor broke loose for a 51 yard TD run on fourth-and-short for the Buccaneers, cutting the OTC lead to 16-6 with 8:57 remaining in the half. OTC then went 55 yards in 14 plays and Dilly scored on a 2 yard run with just 38 seconds on the clock, allowing the Bulldogs to take a 22-6 halftime advantage. Dalluge intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play of the half, preventing the Bucs from scoring.
OTC started the third quarter with a 12 play, 65 yard scoring drive that ate up over 5 minutes and ended with a 5 yard TD run by Dilly, giving them a 28-6 lead. Border West responded with a 9 play, 57 yard drive of their own which saw Nachbor reach the end zone for a second time, this time on an 11 yard run, bringing the Bucs to within two scores at 28-12.
Following Dalluge’s second interception of the game, OTC scored on the third play of their possession when Dilly carried the ball in from the 2 yard line with 5:19 on the clock, taking a 34-12 lead. That’s the way the game ended, sending OTC to the 9-Player State Quarterfinals next Thursday at 7:00pm at Buffalo High School. Their opponent will be determined on Friday when Red Rock Central and Cedar Mountain clash at Lakeview High School in the Section 2 title game.
Jack Mekalson completed 5-of-8 passes for 63 yards. Receiving leaders for the Bulldogs were Dalluge with 3 catches for 32 yards and Dilly with 2 receptions for 31 yards. Dalluge also ran for 50 yards on 5 carries. The Bulldogs also had a pair of quarterback sacks, along with forcing three turnovers.
Nachbor led the Bucs with 152 rushing yards on 15 carries. Marshall Tolifson was 10-for-16 throwing the football for 81 yards. Kevin Casper had 4 catches for 35 yards and Tucker Blume caught 2 passes for 21 yards.