On Friday night, The Deer Park Deer took on the La Porte Bulldogs at La Porte High School. The Bulldogs are the biggest rivals of the Deer over the last half century and this head to head matchup is always the biggest game of the year for both teams. La Porte seemed to realize that. After receiving the kickoff, the Bulldogs wasted no time in getting the game started. Bulldog quarterback River Thompson hurled one 58 yards down the field to wide receiver Elijah George for a touchdown. The home side roared as George crossed the goal line. The extra point was put through and the Bulldogs were off to an early 7-0 lead. As the Deer came onto the field, they had no answer for the Bulldog’s defense and were shut down on their first drive.
The 2nd quarter was all Bulldogs again as they started it off with a plethora of plays to get down the field. When they got into the red zone, the Bulldogs quarterback handed it off to the running back Justin Kay as he punched it in for a five yard touchdown. The extra point was good and the Deer gawked at a 14 point deficit. Once again, the Deer came onto the field and couldn’t get anything going offensively and then it was the Bulldogs turn again. They drove down the field quickly and found themselves in the red zone once again. Like before, the Bulldogs handed it off to running back Makai Hisatake for a four yard touchdown, yet this time the extra point was no good. As the clock ran out, the Deer headed off the field with their heads held down.
The 3rd quarter had a defensive battle with a stop on almost every drive by both teams. The Deer did manage to get on the board with a 24 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matthew Potts to wide receiver Clyde Bellow, the extra point was good. The Deer finally had some life mid 3rd Quarter. The Deer did well to keep La Porte at 20 points while tacking on 7 points of their own.
The 4th quarter would be more of the same, but Deer Park managed to add onto their score with an eight yard touchdown. Quarterback Matthew Potts dodged four defenders and found wide receiver Michael Banda wide open in the end zone. The Deer pushed their way back into the game, but it was not enough. Matthew Potts ended up throwing two interceptions late in the 4th quarter, sealing the game. This secured La Porte’s 2nd win of the season.
FINAL: Deer Park 14-20 La Porte
Photo by Ryan Reid