The Dragon football team suffered a tough and frustrating loss as they took to the road to play against Bear Lake for their Friday night matchup.  Although the team saw some highs throughout the game, they couldn’t outshine the lows that came their way that led to a final score of 20-41.

The game opened on a solid footing, with Bear Lake putting up the first touchdown and PAT.  Knowing that they had to get their own offense rolling, the Dragons took to the field in hopes of driving to the end zone.  Unfortunately, the Bear’s defense put up a strong stop and Malad was forced to punt on their fourth down.  

Bear Lake relentlessly began marching down the field when Malad not only made a big stop, but turned it into a scoring opportunity.  With the Bears on 3rd and 18, their offense was feeling the pressure and the Dragons not letting up, the BLHS quarterback stepped back to throw.  Seconds later he found himself without a receiver and with defenders coming in for the tackle.  Scrambling, he began running from the ensuing Dragon defense.  Just seconds away from the sack, the Bear Lake quarterback hurled the ball to his man downfield.  Already cutting across the field, Kaden Hatch found himself in perfect position to make the catch for an interception.

With the Malad offense taking the field, they began marching to the endzone with carries by Hunter Wray, Ryan Hubbard and Brady Showell to bring them within just a few yards of scoring.  Quarterback Braylin Tripp pushed his way behind his offensive line to cross the goal line for a Dragon touchdown.  Unfortunately they weren’t able to score for a point conversion, ending the first quarter with the score 6-8.

Bear Lake answered with another scoring drive as they opened the second quarter of the game, bringing the game to 6-14.  With a lot of game left to play, Malad was undeterred and brought a steady drive, making consistent gains down the field.  Finding themselves eleven yards from the endzone, Ryan Jensen grabbed a well defended pass from Tripp to put up another Dragon touchdown, making the score 12-14.

On the next Bear’s drive, they found their way into the endzone once again making it 12-20.  With just over a minute left in the opening half, they added one more score to make it 12-28.  Just when it seemed unlikely for another scoring Dragon drive, the Malad offense stepped up to punch in one final score. Hustling from play to play, Malad strung together a series of pass plays to carry them down the field where Tripp connected with Hubbard for the score. The quarterback kept it for a dash to the end zone to add another two point conversion for a half ending score of 20-28. 

That last scoring drive put the momentum squarely with Dragons as they began the second half. Unfortunately, errors put a stop to it in their opening drive. Coach Coby Crozier said, “We returned the ball the start of 3rd and we were marching the ball down the field when we unfortunately had a fumble. That moment shifted the momentum to Bear Lake and they capitalized on it, scoring three touchdowns in answer.”

In addition to the added touchdowns, the Dragons also suffered some injuries that set them back for the remainder of the game. The final score of the game was Bears 41, Dragons 20.

The Malad football team will play their last game of the season at home on Friday, October 13 as they host West Side.