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Bulldogs prepare to snap losing streak to Perryton |
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Thursday, October 22 2009 |
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By Rusty Berry
Sports Editor
Ten years ago back in 1999, Britney Spears and SpongeBob SquarePants entered pop culture; Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, The Matrix, Toy Story 2, and The Sixth Sense were the top selling movies at the box office; Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France, a small company called Napster entered the internet world, and Bill Clinton was still the president of the United States.
The reason for the travel back in time is due to the fact 1999 also has been the last time the Borger Bulldogs have defeated the Perryton Rangers at the varsity football level.
Since dropping from 4A to 3A back in 2002, the Rangers have been able to claim dominance in the battle of red and white squads, by having their way against the Bulldogs the past seven meetings winning by an average score of 35-12.
However one of the great things in sports is at some point streaks are made to be broken and the Bulldogs look to have a team that is capable of doing so this Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
At this point of the season, there are few, if any, teams in West Texas that have been a bigger surprise in the 2009 season than the Bulldogs who own a 5-2 overall record, but more importantly set all alone in first place in district 1-3A with a 2-0 record.
After combining for only three wins combined the past two years, the Bulldogs are team that is in new territory in learning how to handle success and all that comes with it.
There is no doubt the success has developed a new level of confidence in the locker room, but Bulldog Head Coach Rusty Purser and his staff are keeping the team focused saying, “We continually talk to the team about focusing on one game at a time and playing for the goal of a district championship. They understand that they are still going to have that opportunity if they take each game and focus on it as the primary task at hand.
The Bulldogs reached the 2-0 mark in district play by battling Dalhart in a game that had no points scored in the second half to get a 10-7 win.
For the second week in a row the Bulldog defense has been the unit in the spotlight by limiting the Wolves offense to 278 yards of total offense to go along with limiting them to 7 points.
On the improvement of his defense, Purser commented, “We are finally getting to the point that our kids are understanding the defense more and letting themselves make plays.” Purser added, “Defensive football is about reacting to what an offense throws at you and early in the season that process was being slowed by our thought processing.”
That improvement will be put to a big test on Friday night with a Ranger team that is going to be pretty fired up after losing to Lubbock Cooper by one point 21-20 last Friday night in Perryton.
The Rangers are led by two of the best skill players in the district in quarterback CJ Swift and running back Shane Hodge.
In watching film of the Rangers, Purser has been impressed with how hard they play saying, “The last few weeks they have been tested and the fact is they never flinch and have a lot of confidence in themselves. This team has a lot of athleticism that we are going to have to account for both offensively and defensively”
Purser also said that you cannot read too much into the Rangers loss to Lubbock Cooper due to the fact that the Pirates battled several key injuries to start the season and are getting those players back to from the team that was predicted to win the district title before the season. Purser commented, “I think that Cooper is still one of the best teams in our district. They had many chances to really jump ahead the other night but Perryton never let them by causing turnovers or making a big play to keep the game close.”
With Perryton, Dalhart, Cooper, and Lubbock Estacado each having 1-1 records in district play, the Bulldogs are sitting in a good position to reach the post-season with only three games left in the regular season. However as good as Dalhart proved to be, the other three on that list will give the Bulldogs just as tough of a challenge on the football field with none of the remaining games needing to be viewed as lock wins for Borger.
The good news is the Bulldogs have been tested and if the defense and offense put together a solid performance tomorrow night then there is a great shot for the team to snap the losing streak to Perryton and put themselves more in the driver’s seat for the playoffs and more importantly the district crown.
Kickoff is tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium.
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Last Updated ( Monday, October 26 2009 )
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