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"I'm pleased with our performance tonight," said Bulldog Coach Bob Welzein following his team's big win. "The kids were very excited coming into the game and they came through nicely tonight."

St. Charles turned the tables on the hometown Hornets on Friday, avenging last year's 36-8 loss handed to them by New Lothrop on the Bulldogs' own turf. The Hornets went on from there to log a perfect 14-0 season and a state championship.

The two teams fought through a scoreless first quarter before Brian Halas connected with a wide-open Travis Crane in the back of the endzone on a fourth-and-three to give the 'Dawgs a 6-0 lead early in the second stanza. The scoring toss capped a 16-play, 77-yard drive. The two point conversion failed.

St. Charles built a 12-0 cushion when Dugan Roosa scampered in from 15 yards just 3:05 before intermission. Halas' 32-yard pass to Marshall Davenport highlighted the 64 yard scoring march and set up the Roosa score. The conversion attempt again failed.

Humpert, who gained a whopping 211 yards rushing on 18 carries, took over at the beginning of the second half, rambling for 57 yards on the first play from scrimmage and scoring on a seven-yard run three plays later. Halas ran in the two-point conversion and the Bulldogs were in command at 20-0.

Ryan Praski put the Hornets on the scoreboard with 6:28 still left to play in the third quarter with his 31-yard TD run. The score finished an eight-play, 71 yard drive for NL. Praski then ran in the conversion to narrow the gap to 20-8.

But the Bulldogs put the game away on the strength of a pair of Humpert scoring rushes as the talented senior back found paydirt on runs of 40 and 45 yards to give his team its final margin of victory.

"We lost to a very good team that played hard and earned the win," said Hornet mentor Jake Emmendorfer. "I think our inexperience showed tonight as we made some mental mistakes and blew some assignments, but you also have to give St. Charles credit for the job they did."

Both teams played near-errorless football in a season-opener that took place under poor conditions. Only one fumble was lost on a sloppy field and the two teams combined for just 30 yards of penalties, remarkable for a season opener.

Humpert's three TDs and 211 yards led all runners. Marshall Davenport added 51 yards on nine carries as St. Charles amassed 360 total yards, 332 of which came on the ground. Davenport and Humpert anchored the defense with 10 tackles each while Brad Saunders excelled with eight tackles and a pair of sacks.

Praski led the New Lothrop attack with 142 yards rushing on 20 carries and three catches covering 24 yards as NL picked up 210 total yards on offense. Kyle Moore recorded 15 tackles and recovered a fumble to lead the Hornet defense. Marc Confer and Jason Henige each chipped in with eight tackles.

"We held up under sweltering heat and humidity. Our conditioning really paid off because we have a lot of kids we ask to play both ways." Praised Welzein.

The Bulldogs go right back to work next week when they host always-tough Ithaca on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Hornets won't have much time to lick their wounds as they square off against a tough Hamady squad at home this Thursday.

"We got behind, which took us out of our running game a bit because we were forced to search for a big play on offense. But I was more disappointed in our defense," assessed Emmendorfer. "Now we must turn our attention to Hamady which comes in here on a short week and with a lot of talent."

The Hornets, who have won five straight league titles, will likely face their stiffest conference challenge against Hamady, which lost 14-12 to New Lothrop last year.