Last night was a great success on many levels and I am not referring to the outcome of the football game, which by the way the Bulldogs won 21 to 7 over Chippewa Valley.  Last night was the annual Romeo Bulldog Watchdog game and it amazed me just how much the entire community came together for a common cause, to beat back cancer in our own little way.  I look forward to hearing the amount of money raised in support of Cancer research; no doubt we will all be amazed.  The rain held off, the chili cook-off was a success, there was pink everywhere and the fans all knew and loved someone that was, or is being, impacted by cancer.  Add it all up and it means everybody at the game had an emotional stake in the evening’s festivities.  I ran into coach Couch on the field after the game, during the time where everybody was giving their jersey’s to whomever they played for, and the look in his eyes exemplified the evening for me.  He had a child in his arms, a tear in his eye but no longer was he wearing a pink jersey.  Our school and our boys need leaders like coach Couch in their lives.  I asked him if they would be stopping at the four corners and he said; "we will be driving by, if anybody is there we’ll be stopping." 

Photo's taken by: Amiee Distelrath

Chippewa Valley drew first blood in the second quarter and tied the game at 7—7 to cap off a drive that carried over from the first quarter.  Romeo got right back to work with a 17 play drive that lasted just over 7 minutes.  Zack Williams was the main stay of this drive along with Brian Roth running the ball.  Brian Sorensen and Sam Brunner both had great catches from Evan Richardson (Richardson had a few very effective roll-out passes in the game) to keep the drive alive on 2 key 3rd down plays.  Joe Bacci had another great run on 4th and 1 to bull his way forward for a first down and in the end Zack Williams capped the drive with a hard fought 6 yard run in for a touchdown.  Romeo 14—Chippewa Valley 7 which is where the half ended.
The two teams split the third quarter on two very long drives neither team scored on.  There were a few notable stops for the Romeo defense; Ellis Weeks had a great angle of pursuit on a Chippewa Valley sweep to save a touchdown and Joe Bacci, Blake Williams and Dalton Binkowski owned the line and secondary to contained the plays up the middle. 
The first play to start the 4th quarter was a Romeo interception by Ellis Weeks which he ran back 25 yards to the Romeo 45 yard line to begin the next drive.  This is where the double reverse surfaced for the third time in the game.  It went from Richardson to Roth to Weeks where Weeks rolled out to pass and unfortunately he was sacked.  While this play didn’t work, it showed us all a very sophisticated offensive “game” strategy.  On a third and 17 play Zack Williams went around end and followed 2 blockers and had a great run for a first down but in the end Chippewa Valley had an interception for the only Romeo turnover of the night. 
Four plays later Mitch Hess intercepted the ball with 6:41 left in the game.  At this point in the game the Bulldog offense put on a clinic on how to eat up the clock with Zack Williams running the ball very effectively through the middle of the line.  Seven plays into the drive Romeo found themselves in a 4th and 7 situation on the Chippewa Valley 32 yard line.  Richardson once again rolled out to the right and threw a perfect pass to the sidelines and Sam Brunner made a catch straddling the sideline at the 18 yard line for a first down.  The very next play was a sweep around end with Brian Roth carrying the ball in for his second touchdown of the night.  Romeo 21—Chippewa Valley 7 with 2:08 left in the game.