Bulldogs corral Horsemen at Mission

The Plains football team had a bitter loss to the Mission Bulldogs at St. Ignatius Saturday afternoon, when the Bulldogs defeated the Horsemen 60-24.

Both teams had one win and one loss under their belts before Saturday's game. "I felt that we could compete with Mission and even come out with a win based on our progress this season so far. Mission is always a tough opponent," said Horseman head coach Mike Tatum.

The game started well for Plains when quarterback Darren Standeford darted in from around the 20-yard line for a touchdown some eight minutes into the game. Mission scored with two and a half minutes to go in the first quarter and achieved the two-point conversion to take an 8-6 lead.

The Horsemen came right back with a Standeford to Caleb Lakko pass for a Plains touchdown, although for the second consecutive time, the two-point conversion attempt failed, but it gave the Horsemen a 12-8 lead.

The second quarter went back and forth for the first six minutes with neither team making headway until the Bulldogs pushed their way to inside the 10-yard line for first and goal. A short pass gave Mission a touchdown, followed by a conversion pass to give them a 14-12 lead. A short pass from Standeford to Zayden Allen put the Horsemen up front at 18-14 with three and a half minutes in the first half. A conversion pass failed. With 57 seconds remaining in the half, the Bulldogs scored but couldn't get the extra point.

With only 32 seconds left on the first half clock, the Bulldogs intercepted a Horsemen pass and took the ball to the 18-yard line and with one second remaining, a touchdown pass and a successful two-point conversion gave Mission a 10-point lead at halftime.

The third quarter began with a 40-yard plus Standeford to Wyatt Butcher touchdown pass to put Plains only four points behind. The conversion attempt was no good. It wasn't long before Mission came back with a touchdown and a two-point conversion run for a 36-24 lead. A sidekick to the Horsemen resulted in a Bulldog recovery, followed immediately by a 44-24 Mission lead. Standeford came out late in the third with a bad leg cramp and was replaced by Butcher as quarterback. Standeford had four touchdowns, including three passing and one rushing. Tatum said the senior passed to Lakko for a five-yard touchdown, Zayden Allen for a 32-yarder, and to Butcher for 39 yards.

Butcher, a senior, led the team with eight tackles, followed by junior Beau Crabb with seven. "Tackling was an issue for some reason, especially late in the game," said Tatum. "We do well in practice, but it didn't translate to the game yesterday," he added.

By the quarter's finish, the Bulldogs led 52-24. In the fourth, Tatum put in most of his junior varsity squad, including freshman Tristan Allen, who threw a couple passes to his brother, senior Zayden Allen. Tatum said Allen did well for his first time as quarterback in a varsity game. "He is pretty savvy for his age and makes good decisions under pressure. I was really proud of how he did," said Tatum, who added that the JV players stayed in most of the fourth quarter and did a good job overall. "With the score what it was and no JV game on Monday, it was a good opportunity to get them some game experience."

The Horsemen just couldn't move the ball downfield in the last quarter and with less than five minutes in the game, Mission scored and the game ended with the Mission win. "I'm honestly not sure exactly what happened after such a good start to the game. Our overall effort seemed to fizzle as the game progressed. We ended up not being able to adjust very well to what Mission was doing," said Tatum.

The Horsemen face the Superior Bobcats on Friday at Plains and celebrate homecoming against Troy on Oct. 4.