Bettendorf football looks to make another trip to state

The Bettendorf football team is off to a good start this year, with five wins and one loss.

The Bulldogs have defeated Pleasant Valley, Iowa City West, Dubuque Hempstead, Cedar Rapids Washington, and Burlington. Their one loss came from a close game against the Cedar Falls Tigers, who are undefeated

Cedar Falls won the contest 35 to 32 in a back and forth thriller. The game included a lightning delay at the end of the third quarter, at which point the Bulldogs were leading the game 24 to 21 with the ball. After a 60-minute delay, the Tigers came out and got a stop, followed by two quick touchdowns. The Bulldogs had a chance late after scoring a touchdown of their own, but they fell short as time expired

“Obviously we wanted to win, but we can use this loss as fuel for the rest of the season,” Jack Hester, senior offensive linemen, said.

Once again, the Bulldogs prevailed in their homecoming game against the Burlington Greyhounds. The Bulldogs won the game 48 to 13 thanks to three passing touchdowns from Joe Byrne. Two of them went to Noah Abbott and the other to Tynan Numkena. Harrison Bey-Buie rushed for two touchdowns; Joe Byrne and Austin Barta each rushed for a touchdown also.

Moving forward, the Bulldogs have bigger expectations than just winning their homecoming game.

“We want to win a state championship,” Hester said.

The Bulldogs have not won a state championship since 2007, but are usually in the mix. Last year, Bettendorf lost in the state semifinals in a four overtime thriller with Dowling.

The football team has been working hard all off-season to get another shot at a state championship.

“We woke up really early Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday all summer to lift and run,” Hester said.

The Bulldogs still have time to make improvements before the playoffs start. There are a lot of little things that can change a game.

“We need to eliminate penalties,” senior running back, AJ Douglas, said.

Eliminating penalties is one way the Bulldogs can improve and make another trip to the Dome in Cedar Falls.

The Bulldogs have their next game this Friday, Oct. 11, in Cedar Rapids against Cedar Rapids Kennedy (5-1).

Bettendorf storms the field.