Wolfpack edged by White Swan

WHITE SWAN–Wolfpack quarterback Monte Pettichord rallied his team with three second-quarter touchdowns to go from trailing 26-7 to holding a 27-26 lead at halftime, but White Swan scored twice in the third stanza with a good point-after and slipped by with a 48-21 EWAC league win here Friday, September 24.

The Wolfpack plays its first home game tonight, Thursday, September 30, against Warden in Waitsburg. Kick off will be at an earlier 6 p.m.

Next week, DW visits Tri-Cities Prep at Chiawana H.S. in the TriCities. Kick off will be at 7 p.m.

"I am very proud of the way this team never gave up," Head Coach Troy Larsen said. "Every time they got down, the Wolfpack fought back and left everything on the field at White Swan. As this young team grows up and gets more experience, we will start capitalizing on opportunities and winning the fourth quarters."

White Swan scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter, countered by a Pettichord touchdown on a 35-yard run. Hunter Berg booted the extra point. After the first quarter, the score was 14-7.

Pettichord cranked it up a few notches, throwing three touchdown passes in the second stanza. He hit Daylan Marlow with a 21-yard scoring strike, then he punched in the extra two points.

Then Pettichord found place kicker Berg open for a 25-yard touchdown. The kick failed.

The quarter's third DW touchdown was again to Marlow, a 34-yard toss for six. The two-point conversion play was short and the score at half was Dayton-Waitsburg in the lead, 27-26.

The difference in the ballgame was White Swan's 16 third-quarter points to DW's 14. Pettichord threw a 15-yard pass to Marlow to the Wolfpack's first score of the second half, and he followed that with a 15-yard run to pay dirt. Both PAT attempts were denied by White Swan.

Leading 42-41, White Swan added another touchdown in the fourth and held DW, which was plagued by penalties and bad snaps, off for the win.

"After a long bus ride, we came out flat," Larsen observed.

Injuries and illness has also bedeviled the Wolfpack, Larsen said. "We have been struggling keeping the same student-athletes on the field, due to injuries and colds, resulting in multiple players snapping the ball," he said. "We had a lot of errant snaps that forced Monte into running. Pettichord was forced into scrambling a lot, racking up 231 yards on 18 carries. It was his best night of the season."

Hudson Reser played in his first game and excelled at running the ball for 126 yards on 16 carries.

Defensively, Kaylub Prather led the team with 12 tackles and Theo Anderson contributed with 10 tackles (five solo). Cyson Morris picked an interception from White Swan, plus was in on five tackles.

Dayton-Waitsburg 41, White Swan 48

DW 7 20 14 0-41

WS 14 12 16 6-48

DW-Pettichord 35 yd run. Berg kick.

DW-Marlow 21 yd pass from Pettichord. Pettichord run.

DW-Berg 25 yd pass from Pettichord. Kick failed.

DW-Marlow 34 yd pass from Pettichord. Run failed.

DW-Marlow 15 yd pass from Pettichord. Kick failed.

DW-Pettichord 15 yd run. Reser run.

Passing

Pettichord: 5-10-120 yds, 4 TDs

Receiving

Marlow: 3-70-3 TDs; Morris: 1-25; Berg 1-25, 1 TD.

Rushing

24-257 yds

Reser: 16-126; Pettichord: 18-231