Bulldogs Fall Flat in Season Opener

The Dayton Bulldogs kicked off their 2010 season in an inauspicious and disappointing manner with a 24-0 loss to rival New Providence. 

Obviously not ready to duplicate their stellar 2009 campaign, the Bulldogs [0-1] came out flat and fell behind early due to numerous self-inflicted mistakes. 

Skyler Apicella got things started positively for Dayton with a 74-yard return on the opening kickoff. But, despite starting at the Pioneers' 26-yard line, it took just one play to set the tone for the game, when a botched shotgun snap forced Dayton back to the 41-yard line. Two plays later, Dayton had to punt, and their momentum was gone. 

And according to head coach Joe Goerge, so was their execution.    

"There's not a whole lot to say but you could summarize this game very easily: they kicked our butts in every facet of the game," said a disappointed Goerge. "We were not ready to play and it showed for four quarters. Even our opening kickoff was a camouflage because it was just a good individual play."       

As much as he was dissatisfied with his team's lack of execution, what really bothered Goerge was the fact his Bulldogs seemingly didn't play with the right sense of urgency, considering New Providence is a rival and it's also the start of five consecutive conference foes.   

"I told them, 'If you can't get ready for this one then that's your problem,'" he sighed, adding his team isn't good enough to take anyone lightly. "Not getting ready is as much our faults as a coaching staff but we still didn't execute. Mistakes killed us."      

The Pioneers jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on its opening possession – a Vinny Fuschetto 41-yard scoring dash – but Dayton still had their chances early. Perhaps the biggest misfortune was when Aaron Williams picked off a Jack Cole pass and raced down to the New Providence three-yard line, for a potential first-and-goal opportunity. Alas, a clipping penalty was called on the return, pushing the Bulldogs back to their own 22 yard line. The 75-yard swing in field position proved crucial and Dayton could only muster a three-and-out on the ensuing possession.  

Things didn't get much better on their next possession as Dayton again was forced into a three-and-out. The defense bucked up when it forced New Providence to punt on its next possession but sophomore Anthony Cioffi was called for a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt, giving the Pioneers primo field position. Cole scored four plays later on a 13-yard quarterback keeper, with 4:45 remaining in the half.             

The 14-0 halftime deficit proved too much for the suddenly disheveled Bulldogs and the helpless feeling that Goerge was experiencing bubbled over into his halftime speech.     

"There's not much we [coaches] could do. I told them at halftime that we're not going to manufacture points here by getting them [hyped] up," said Goerge, who reiterated with exhaustion that his team wasn't ready. "It was only 14-0 at the half but it could've been 44-0 at the half because [they way they were playing] nothing was going to change. At 14-0, if we were playing our [butts] off then that's different, but we weren't."       

The second half wasn't much better, as New Providence marched down to the Dayton 15-yard line in only seven plays and tacked on a Robby Fay 32-yard field goal.    

Goerge said afterwards that he wasn't happy with how his team came out of the locker room to start the second half.    

"[Our] defense couldn't tackle anybody and it had nothing to do with schemes," he said. "It had more to do with effort individually. I hope we learn because I think there was some thought of entitlement [after last season's success]."     

Not only was Dayton's defense ineffective but the offense was staid as well. Cioffi, the sophomore quarterback, only attempted three passes, including a jump ball to Williams, who made a spectacular catch in double-coverage at midfield, and later a great one-handed seven-yard catch on the boundary. But Cioffi was also intercepted early in the fourth quarter.       

Such athletic feats like Williams's catches were few and far in between for a Bulldogs team that sorely lacked the production from its other playmakers. Goerge lamented that fact afterwards.       

"We made so many mistakes," said the coach, as his dejected team hurried back to their buses, still in full uniform. "We certainly have to do something about that because we're playing Bound Brook, Thursday, and that's not much time…but this was the worst we played since my second year here when we went 1-9. And that team probably played with greater effort than today's team."    

Despite the gloomy feeling post-game, the ever-optimistic Goerge then switched gears and said this is a great indicator of what type of fight the Bulldogs have.           

"They now have to decide what kind of players they want to be because this could be a long season," he said of the heeding to his players afterwards. "The sun will come up tomorrow. I told them you can't sit here and cry because there's no choice. You have to wake up and do it again. You can either wallow in self-pity or pick yourself up and see what you can do [better]. Life goes on but we'll bounce back."       

The JDHS community will certainly find out soon enough.        

KEY STATS:  

Apicella: 0-of-1 passing; six carries, four yards, fumble; 2 returns for 106 yards;     

Cioffi: 2-of-3, 45, INT; seven carries, 49 yards          

Belle: six carries, 38 yards; 1 return for 35 yards       

Williams: 2 receptions, 45 yards; INT   

Mike Hess: four carries, 16 yards