Donate to the Watchdog Game and help fight cancer. This year's game is Sept. 17 vs. the Sterling Heights Stallions.
Bulldog Sports Schedules
for all teams, all sports
Links of Interest
hide links
State/County HS Football
- MHSAA Football
- Michigan HS Football Year-by-Year
- MAC Standings
- MAC AD Website
Locals Schools/Groups
- Romeo Jr. Bulldogs
- Romeo Middle School Athletics
- Powell Middle School Athletics
TV/Video
- MHSAA TV
- Macomb Twp Local Access TV
News Media
- Macomb Daily HS Sports
- Detroit News HS Sports
- Detroit Free Press HS Sports
- Source Newspapers Sports
Social Media
- MAC Football Facebook page
- mLive Forums - Eastside football
- Searn Forums - MAC Conference
Maps
- HS Football Maps, Macomb Daily
Recognizing Our
Bulldog Sponsors
The Bulldog JV won their opening game of the season, 42-14, vs Warren Mott at Barnabo Field.
The JV team won their second game of the season versus the Utica Ford Falcons, 20-0, on Thursday, Sept. 4. Blake Laurain, Khy Bradley and Spencer Ruman each scored rushing touchdowns for the Bulldogs. Defensively, Anthony Iafrate and Kyle Witgen each had interceptions. The Bulldogs came close to surrendering points late in the second half, but preserved the shutout with a goal line stand. Next up: Macomb Dakota, Sept. 11 at Dakota High School map.
The Bulldog JV gave the Dakota Cougars all they could handle but came up a point short, 14-13, at Dakota stadium on Sept. 11. As is often the case when evenly matched teams play, miscues and missed opportunities contributed to the game's outcome.
Not that there was anything amiss about Romeo's first score. QB Blake Laurain [video] scored on a 5-yard run partway through the second quarter, capping a sustained drive for the Bulldogs that generated the only first-half scoring by either team.
Dakota did come close early on, missing out on a first-quarter touchdown that was called back on a holding penalty. The drive ended in a missed field goal. As a result, at halftime, Romeo led 7-0.
Dakota's second-half points came off two touchdown passes, both of which were offshoots of Bulldog penalties. The first came on a drive that was kept alive by a Bulldog offside call on a fourth down. Instead of having to punt the ball away, Dakota retained possession and went on to tie the score, 7-7.
The Bulldogs continued the third quarter scoring when Mike Munn blocked a punt that Taylor Shotwell caught [video] and carried into the end zone. The Bulldogs did not convert the PAT, resulting in a 13-7 lead for Romeo.
The final scoring of the night came when the Cougars capitalized on an offside call on what would have been a successful fourth-and-one for Romeo to start the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were forced to attempt a punt instead. A bad snap resulted in good field position that Dakota leveraged into seven points -- enough for the margin of victory.
With the loss, the Bulldogs record is 2-1.
The Bulldog JV defeated the Fraser Ramblers, 31-14, Sept. 18 at Barnabo Field behind a pair of touchdowns each from Zack Bellas and Nathan Fraeyman -- one being a 95-yard interception return [video] -- and another from running back Ryan Burkard.
The Bulldog defense shut out the Ramblers in the first half, then got stingy in the second half when it looked like Fraser might make things interesting.
The linebackers, led by Taylor Shotwell, Austin Carie and Shane Torecki, limited Fraser's big-play ability. Spencer Ruman, Kyle Witgen and the rest of the defensive backfield came on strong, too, throttling the Ramblers' passing attack late in the game when Fraser went to the air, looking to make up for lost ground.
Meantime, the guys up front -- Tom Otto, Garett Hess, Dalton Binkowski, Ryan Ruth, Mike Munn and the "JB" tandem of Joe Bacci and Jake Balabuch -- played their usual strong games on both sides of the ball, keeping the Ramblers contained and constrained most of the night.
Strong line play and special teams contributed to the Bulldogs' first half dominance. Bellas's scores both came on pass receptions from quarterback Blake Laurain. The first occurred in the first quarter, while his second-quarter TD followed an onside kick by the Bulldogs that was recovered by Anthony Iafrate [video] in Fraser territory. On the first play from scrimmage after the recovery, Bellas got behind a trio of Rambler defenders and Laurain hit him down the right sideline for a 45-yard score [video].
Sandwiched between Bellas's scores was a 2-yard touchdown by Burkard that capped a long drive, the highlight of which was a 48-yard gallop by Laurain on a fourth-and-short from midfield.
The Bulldogs scored again with two minutes left in the half when Laurain hit Fraeyman with a bullet across the middle for a 45-yard touchdown, making the score 25-0 at the break.
Fraser finally got on the board with the opening drive of the second half, which culminated in a 20-yard TD pass. The PAT failed, making the score 25-6. Fraser scored again early in the fourth quarter after a long drive that was kept alive by several roughing-the-passer calls against the Bulldogs. A two-yard keeper by the Fraser QB, followed by a two-point PAT, put the score at 25-14 with eight minutes to go.
Fraser then succeeded with an onside kick of their own, recovering the ball at the Romeo 45. Nothing came of that drive. But... on their next possession, the Bulldogs gave momentum back by turning the ball over via an interception at their own 25. Two 10-yard runs and short dive put the ball at the Bulldogs' three yard line with just over two minutes in regulation and the potential for the Ramblers to close the margin to three points.
A Fraser offside penalty moved the ball back to the eight yard line.
That's when Fraeyman got his hands on an out pass intended for the Fraser tight end at the five yard line. After tipping the ball in the air, he corralled it and raced -- rambled, you could say -- 95 yards down the Fraser sideline for a touchdown that safely put the score out of reach. The failed PAT made the final 31-14.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved their record to 3-1 on the season.
| A Burk of Art. This Ryan Burkard 73-yard touchdown run in the second half helped propel the Bulldog JV to a 34-6 win over Chippewa Valley. More video |
The Bulldog JV football team ventured into the valley of the Big Red on Thursday, Sept. 25 and came away victorious, beating Chippewa Valley 34-6.
The Bulldogs combined their typically strong running game with solid defensive play. Nearly everyone in a Bulldog uniform contributed -- a necessity, considering how the game started.
Utilizing a power running attack, Chippewa Valley took the opening kickoff and marched down field in just under six mintues to score on a quarterback keeper. It was a start reminiscent of what the Romeo varsity encountered in the opening game of the season against Warren Mott.
And just as the varsity did against Mott, the JV replied in kind against CV -- and then some.
Sam Nicosia returned the ensuing kickoff to the Chippewa 24 yard line [video]. The return came after Chippewa's first kickoff attempt went out of bounds. Rather than take the ball at their own 35, Romeo coaches Warneck, Lee and Binkowski opted to have Chippewa kick again.
The decision paid off. A few plays later, quarterback Blake Laurain optioned to running back Ryan Burkard for the touchdown. After a failed PAT, the score stood even, 6-6.
From then on, it was all Bulldogs.
Special teams played an early role. In the second quarter, Kyle Witgen recovered a mishandled CV punt attempt in the end zone for Romeo's second touchdown [video]. Chippewa's bad field position was made possible by a 64-yard Burkard punt that was downed by the Bulldogs at the Big Red one yard line [video].
Later in the quarter, Burkard scored again [video] as part of a drive that was made possible by a Spencer Ruman interception [video].
Ruman's pick was one of many big defensive plays by the Bulldogs, both collectively and individually. The Bulldog defense was in gang-tackling mode all night [video, video] and stopped Chippewa on fourth-and-short yardage several times, including once at the Romeo 12 yard line [video].
Noteworthy individual plays included backfield tackles by Joey Bacci [video] and Tom Otto [video]; a fumble caused by Taylor Shotwell that was recovered by Chris Blanchard [video]; a tackle by Mike Szydlowski of a Big Red ball carrier who had open field and the end zone in sight [video]; and an interception by Zack Bellas just before the end of the first half.
Bellas returned the ball 80 yards to the end zone [video], but the touchdown was nullified by a penalty. A 15-yard run by Laurain a few plays later [video] put the points back on the board and gave Romeo a 27-6 halftime lead.
Defensively, Taylor Shotwell and Anthony Iafrate each had 10 tackles, with Dan Bowers and Zac Luck adding nine apiece and Bellas chipping in seven along with an interception.
The only second-half scoring was a 73-yard run by Burkard that was a work of art. He juked a defender at the line, cut right, picked up yardage down the sideline, then cut across field and concluded the run with a "stop-on-a-dime and pause" maneuver that cleared his way to the end zone [video]. Just another day at work for Burk.
Detto Bongiorno [video] and Ruman [video] also had big second-half runs for Romeo. Khy Bradley played an all-around strong game, too, on both sides of the ball.
With the win, the Bulldogs' record is 4-1.
The Bulldog JV defeated Cousino, 35-13, to run their record to 5-1.
| A Bradley Tank Khy Bradley takes this punt snap and turns it into a 26-yard gain, taking several Eagle tacklers along for the ride at the end of the play. More video |
The Bulldog JV tied the Eisenhower Eagles, 14-14, Oct. 9 at Barnabo Field.
The game started out like it might be a Bulldog route. Romeo scored on its first two possessions: a Ryan Burkard 10-yard run and a 69-yard TD pass from Blake Laurain to Nathan Fraeyman.
On both drives, the Bulldogs took advantage of opportunities.
The first drive was kept alive by a fake punt that Khy Bradley ran for 26 yards, while the second was set up by a Joey Bacci fumble recovery on Ike's first possession.
Unfortunately for Romeo, that was the end of the Bulldog scoring for the night.
Meanwhile, Eisenhower's first score came on a 60-yard run by an Ike running back midway through the second quarter that made the score 14-7.
From there, the game became a contrast in offensive styles: Eisenhower's pass-oriented attack versus Romeo's primarily ground-based approach.
Romeo had another scoring chance later in the second quarter after extending a drive with another fake punt -- this one a pass from Burkard to Zack Bellas to the Ike 28. A Burkard run moved the ball to the six yard line, but the Bulldogs couldn't capitalize on four chances and turned the ball over on downs. At half, the score was 14-7 Romeo.
The second half began the Bulldogs' way, too. On their first possession, Eisenhower mishandled a punt snap that gave Romeo the ball at the Eagles' 39 yard line. Romeo moved the ball to the three. An apparent touchdown was called off due to a penalty, moving the ball back to the Ike 11, where the drive stalled after a Bulldog fumble.
From there, Ike went on the offensive with its aerial attack. Their next score came less than a minute into the fourth quarter on a 35-yard TD pass that tied the score 14-14.
For the remainder of the game, the teams traded possessions and turnovers. In one back-to-back sequence, Romeo intercepted an Ike pass, then gave the ball back again on the very next play.
The Bulldogs final chance came when they were awarded an interception of an Ike pass at midfield with just over a minute left on the clock. That drive, and the game, ended with the Bulldogs at the Eisenhower 20 yard line.
With the win, the JV's record stands at 5-1-1.
Talk about striking quickly.
The Romeo JV football team did just that against the Sterling Heights Stevenson Titans on Oct. 16 at Barnabo Field. Brian Roth returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and the Bulldogs never looked back, beating Stevenson 33-20 to bring their record to 6-1-1 heading into next week's season-ending game against Utica.
In addition to his TD return, Roth closed out the first half with a pass reception touchdown from Zack Bellas that came, literally, as time was expiring in the second quarter and made the score 25-0.
Other scorers for the Bulldogs were Sam Nicosia on a six-yard pass, Ryan Burkard on a 35-yard TD run, and Nathan Fraeyman on a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown -- his second 90+-yard return of the season.
And while he himself didn't score any touchdowns in the game, Bellas was Mr. Everything Else on the night, combining his TD pass with two fumble recoveries, an onside kick recovery and several hard hits on defense -- all the while performing his usual PAT and kickoff duties. Anthony Iafrate also recovered a fumble for Romeo.
Defensively, the Bulldog front line played its usual strong game, with Garett Hess harassing the quarterback and forcing incompletions on several occasions, while Bacci, Binkowski, Munn and Balabuch kept the middle plugged and the Titan runners under wraps all night, with support from Taylor Shotwell and the rest of the linebacking crew.
Worth noting for Stevenson was the performance of #11 Robert Marshall, who scored all three Titan touchdowns, each on a pass reception.
The Romeo JV football team closed out a successful season with a 31-24 victory over the Utica Chieftains Oct. 23 at Swinehart Stadium. With the win, the Bulldogs finish with a 7-1-1 record.