The Burrall Blog – What a Win!

8/30/09 – 3:44 PM

Summing up Newcastle football’s season-opening win over Custer probably can’t be done efficiently, but I’ll try.

Now with a 5-man line, the Dogies’ defense showed that it could be much better.  It was quite good on Friday.  The secondary covered Custer receivers well and may have frustrated them into some drops.

So, how did the move of Jeremy Beehler to running back work out?  Well, how about 28 carries for 196 yards and a touchdown?  How about a 59-yard run and a 33-yard TD run?  Beehler knows, I’m sure, that teams will start keying on him, but I’ll be surprised if that stops him.  Now, the Dogies did barely throw the ball on Friday, and they will probably want to establish at least some sort of a passing game soon.

And then, there are the guts of new head coach Matt Conzelman.  It was a calculated risk, but a risk nonetheless, when Newcastle successfully went for the 2-point conversion and the win in the second overtime.  Matt said to me after the game, “I just know I didn’t want to play another overtime against [Custer].”

I can’t blame him.  The Wildcats’ offense was coming together after it had struggled most of the game.  Anyway, the formation for an extra point was in place, including the “swinging-gate” — and then the ball was snapped right to holder Trey Sylte, who had run for the Dogies’ second-OT touchdown just minutes before.  Sylte made a mad dash to the goal line as Wildcat defenders converged — and just barely crossed the goal line for the winning points.

Some streaks were broken with Newcastle’s 15-14 win.  A streak of losses to South Dakota teams dating back to 1989 ended.  Also ending was a 9-game losing streak to Custer, dating back to 1991.  And, this was the Dogies’ first season-opening win since 2001.

If you don’t have plans for Friday night, maybe you should consider coming to Schoonmaker Field when the Dogies host three-time defending 1A champion Southeast with a 7:00 PM kickoff.  Newcastle will be tested in this one almost certainly, but the Dogies play hard and with enthusiasm.  I’ll think you’ll enjoy watching them.

Of course, hear it Friday starting at 6:20 on AM 1240 KASL and here at kaslradio.com.  Just click on that link at the top of the page that says, “Live Dogie Broadcast.”