Haxtun – After 322 days, the Fightin’ Bulldogs’ defensive dam finally broke.
Visiting Merino flushed that streak Friday night with a 1-yard touchdown run by Karl Mertens with 5:24 remaining in the first quarter on the way to a 46-12 Plains League victory over Haxtun in The Denver Post Game of the Week at standing-room only Bulldog Field.
Haxtun (4-1, 3-1 league), the defending Class A 8-man defending state champions and the top-ranked team in The Denver Post/9News 8-man poll, had not been scored on since Nov. 13, 2004, in a semifinal game against Stratton until Mertens’ dive up the middle.
“I have had this game circled on my calendar since last year,” said Mertens, who gained 211 yards with three touchdowns. “The offensive line played great. We were just looking to drive the ball down the field.”
No. 2 Merino (5-0, 4-0) could not be slowed after that initial score. On the first play of the Rams’ second drive, Mertens drew the defense in with a fake handoff on an option run to the right and sprinted down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown.
Two drives later, on the first play, Ross Brunkhardt broke one tackle for every defender on the field with stiff arms and cutbacks for a 52-yard score.
Brunkhardt added another six points with 47 seconds left in the first half to give Merino a 26-6 lead at halftime.
“Once our offense started clicking and clicking and clicking, you could see it took a lot of out them,” said Brunkhardt, who carried 15 times for 184 yards and three touchdowns.
Chance Barber made the offense a three-headed monster with 144 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. The Rams had five scoring runs longer than 43 yards.
“I really don’t know what to say. Their dive keeper worked really well,” Haxtun coach Dave Shafer said. “There was so much hype for this game, but next week is just as important, and so is the week after that.”
Merino beat Haxtun 7-6 in the regular season a year ago, and the Fightin’ Bulldogs returned the favor with a 30-0 victory in the 2004 title game.
And with much of the focus on Haxtun’s defense this time around, the Rams had a statement to make. Aside from the 125 yards rushing given up to Cameron Ham and the final drive of the game when the substitutes were in, Merino allowed just 10 total yards of offense. The Rams allowed Haxtun quarterback Andy Wernsman to complete just 2-of-12 passes while intercepting him twice.
“We wanted to come out and play some Ram football,” said Merino senior Cody Helbert, who had back-to-back sacks at a crucial point in the second quarter.
Merino 12 14 7 7 – 46
Haxtun 6 0 0 6 – 12
H – Ham 28 run (run failed). M – Mertens 1 run (run failed). M – Mertens 70 run (pass failed). M – Brunkhardt 52 run (Amen run). M – Brunkhardt 5 run (run failed). M – Mertens 43 run (Bartlett kick). M – Barber 62 run (Bartlett kick). M – Brunkhardt 73 run (kick failed). H – Phillips 1 run (run failed).
