Bulldogs turn back Wave 35-28
Unlike their prior meetings, Friday night’s game was a story of two halves as the Ida Baker Bulldogs pulled out a hard-fought victory over the Fort Myers Green 35-28.
“By far, this is the biggest win in our program’s history,” Bulldogs coach Brian Conn said of their first victory over the reigning district champion.
Heading into halftime, the Bulldogs trailed 28-14 and had failed to stop the Green Wave on all of their four first-half possessions. That all changed with start of the third quarter.
The Bulldogs defense came out with a chip on their shoulder, forcing four consecutive turnovers, which the Bulldogs turned into points, racking up all of their 21 second-half points in the quarter.
“The defense made some adjustments,” said Conn. “Offensively, we felt pretty good. We didn’t do a whole lot different in the second half but run the ball a little more on the inside. The defense just stepped it up all the way around.”
Led by Senior Marvin Riedewald, the Bulldogs accumulated nearly 200 yards on the ground with Riedewald getting 137 on just 20 carries, and two touchdowns.
Defensively, it was all about big plays for the Bulldogs. Specifically, those four consecutive turnovers to begin the half.
“Coach told us we were playing like girls at halftime,” said defensive back Mike Anderson who turned in one of the best all-around performances of his career.
Anderson ran 90 yards on three punt returns, caught a 38-yard TD pass and got the Bulldogs’ second turnover of the second half — a fumble recovery he returned 37 yards for a touchdown.
“He plays with incredible intensity and fire,” Conn said of Anderson. “Sometimes we have to calm him down a bit, but his intensity paid off for us tonight.”
Starting QB Sean Francis managed the game well while completing seven of 11 pass attempts for 111 yards and one TD.
The District 5A-12 win sends Baker (3-1, 1-0 district) into next Friday’s home game against American Heritage.
Fort Myers 14 14 0 0 — 28
Ida Baker 14 0 21 0 — 35
First Quarter
FM — Davis 28 run; Zeiher kick.
Bak — Riedewald 2 run; Dean kick.
FM — Davis 55 run; Zeiher kick.
Bak — Anderson 38 pass from Francis; Dean kick.
Second Quarter
FM — Guffey 3 run.
FM — Davis 16 run; Kendrick (run).
Third Quarter
Bak — Anderson 28 interception return; Dean kick.
Bak — Riedewald 7 run, Dean kick.
Bak — Palazzolo 3 run; Dean.