FLATONIA — Bulldogs foot- ball protected home field on home coming night with a tough win vs Nixon-Smiley Sept. 8 at Bulldogs Field by a final score of 21-14. As this was an evenly matched game for it’s entirety, Flatonia eventually took the upper hand with their run game and battled for crucial yards down the stretch. “We elimi- nated the mistakes," said first-year Flatonia head football coach Brent Mascheck.
“We had so many turnovers and just little mental breakdowns in the first half. I thought defensively we played well the entire night. Offen- sively, we're still trying to figure out some things and find ourself, but I’m so proud of the kids. They fought through some things and fought through some adversity to find a way to win the game. That's how we’re going to have to win games. We’re gonna have to grind things out and be physically and mentally tough, so very proud of the kids.”
Flatonia senior Kobe Burton is listed as a tackle and a guard on the roster, but the Bulldogs have been using him as a power back and it’s worked very well. Burton rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries last Friday. “Just contribute to the team and hit the gaps,” Burton said. “Just playing how I’m supposed to play. As long as the handoff’s good, just run the ball down the field."
Nixon-Smiley led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter after a long pass and a pass interference call on Flatonia that put Nixon at the 1 yard line, eventually punching it in with a run by junior John Garza, which was followed by a failed two-point conversion. Flatonia responded in the second quarter with a 36-yard touchdown run down the Bulldogs sideline from senior Kenyon Guyton to take a 7-6 lead with 8:55 to go.
Nixon then took advantage of a Flatonia snap over the punters head to set them up in the red zone and score a 14-yard run past the goal line by freshman Garet Gonzales, putting it at 14-7 after a successful two-point attempt at just under the two minute mark.
The Mustangs went into the locker room at halftime with a 14-7 lead, then Burton ran up the gut for a 20-yard score towards the end of the third quarter to tie it at 14.
A defensive battle took place in the fourth quarter until Flatonia started moving the ball with their run game, mostly with runs up the middle from Burton, which led to a one-yard touchdown run from Bulldogs senior Cale Janecka with three and a half minutes to play to win the game as Flatonia stopped Nixon on defense and went into victory formation en route to a 2114 win.
