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September 12, 2009
Hughes, a junior, carried the ball 24 times for 157 yards and two touchdowns, leading the way for Dakota. Between Hughes and junior quarterback Mark Morris' 90 yards, the two combined for over half of the team's total offense. Morris threw the ball very well, going 10-for-11, and bringing in another 130 yards for the Cougars. "I just ran behind our big offensive line, they're real strong, they open up a lot of holes for me. I have to give them a lot of credit. Once we got used to their defense I had an easier time," Hughes said. "I just ran hard every play, that's all I can do." "This is a very good Romeo team. We just want to pound the ball, and then hopefully that sets up the pass," Dakota coach Mike Giannone said after his team's slow start on offense. "I thought Hughes and [Mark] Morris did a great job controlling the tempo." The game started off slanted in Romeo's favor, scoring quickly on their first possession and kicking a field goal on their next for a 10-0 lead. Dakota turned on the offensive juices soon after though, putting all the weight on Hughes' shoulders. Hughes took the ball 8 out the the 11 drives that possession, carrying the ball 54 yards, before Morris scored the touchdown on a 14-yard carry. Junior kicker Kris Selita's kick soared off the goal post and missed, leaving Dakota down 4. The next possession for the Cougars seemed to fizzle out, sitting at fourth-and-eight on their own 47-yard line. Morris was back to punt and before Romeo could blink he took off running, grabbing 16 yards for the first down and a huge swing of momentum for Dakota. Hughes ran in his big touchdown on a 37-yard carry to put Dakota up for good. Selita missed another field goal, though it wouldn't matter, leaving Dakota up 12-10. On the next possession, five plays later, Junior Deandre Smith picked off an errant pass from senior quarterback Jacob Alcini, one of Romeo's two quarterbacks for the evening, and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown. The very next punt, however, the Bulldogs' Christian Pletta returned the ball 88 yards for a touchdown. Romeo wouldn't score again, but at the half a very close 19-17 kept the fans excited. The mystery of the game is why Romeo's all-state runningback Ben Brown only carried the ball five times in the first half. Even with only five, he still managed to run in 53 yards, over 10 yards per carry. When someone is esssentially giving you a first down everytime they touch the ball, Romeo may have been able to do some more damage in the second half with Brown leading the way. Brown would finish with 82 yards on 12 carries, still averaging almost seven yards per carry for the game. On the opening possession of the second half, Dakota scored again, pulling away from Romeo with Hughes' second touchdown of the game. A slew of flags stopped any momentum either team hoped to achieve, with six flags on the following 18 plays between both sides. Then in the beginning of the fourth quarter, Hughes made his only mistake of the game and fumbled the ball, which was recoverd by junior Nathan Fraeyman of Romeo and ran back 36 yards. Perhaps the Bulldogs had some fight left? Back and forth plays between Brown and Alcini moved the ball to the Dakota 12-yard line before senior Andrew Meux intercepted the ball on the 3-yard line and ran it all the way back down for a fifth Cougar touchdown. Junior quarterback Blake Laurain would play the last possession for Romeo and in almost the same play, Meux intercepted the ball again, this time around the 2-yard line, and ran it back to the 20 before being brought down. Dakota impoved it's record to 3-0, including 2-0 in the MAC Red Conference. Romeo's loss leaves them with a 2-1 record, 1-1 in the Conference. Dakota plays away at Port Huron next week (3-0), while Romeo hosts 0-3 Fraser at home.
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