Bulldogs fall to Riesel in season opener

The Riesel Indians defeated the Marlin Bulldogs 38-13 Friday night at Fair Park Field.

It only took five plays for Riesel (1-0) to score, thanks to a 22-yard pass from quarterback Dakota Davis to tight end Will McClintock. Marlin (0-1) was unable to get a drive going and was forced to punt again on the next drive.

Davis looked to put the Indians up by more with a 17-yard run that was fumbled right before he crossed the goal line. The ball rolled out of the back of the end zone and was ruled a touchback and Marlin’s ball.

The Bulldogs looked to capitalize but couldn’t. Marlin set up to punt again, but this time, a heads-up play by a Bulldogs lineman allowed them to pick up the punt that hadn’t crossed the line of scrimmage and take it into Indian territory. Marlin running back TyDarren Harris put the Bulldogs on the board with a 5-yard gain to tie the game at 7-7.

Riesel’s next drive saw Davis and McClintock connect for 39 yards. The next play saw Austin Armour with a 14-yard run to score for the Indians, the first of his two touchdown runs on the night.

Marlin was able to put together a drive to end the half but came up short as the Bulldogs fumbled on fourth down, recovered by Jayden Busby for Riesel.

The Indians would run down the clock to take the 13-7 lead into halftime. The Indians came back to start the second half connecting for touchdowns on their first two drives.

Marlin’s saw multiple drives ended in turnovers. One was an interception that saw Dieterich score again as he returned it 55 yards for an Indians touchdown.

Marlin scored again thanks to a short Ja’Marien Womack run midway through the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs will be on the road against Milano this week.