Bulldogs Football Stifles Brentwood in 13-0 Home Win

In the face of officiating delays that resulted in their football game dragging on for nearly three hours, Lindenhurst gave its faithful fans a solid performance Friday night, despite the rain.

The Bulldogs weren’t dominating, exactly - but they handled a potent Brentwood running game well enough to force turnovers in key situations, earning a 13-0 win under the lights at field at the .

“Our secondary came through,” said head coach Nick Lombardo immediately after the game - about 8:50 p.m., just short of three hours after the game had kicked off, rain and all.

Riding on another strong outing for punter Vin Valela, the Bulldogs displayed solid defense against Brentwood. While reeling off numerous double-digit gains, every Indian drive hit a brick wall as Lindenhurst‘s D stiffened.

Time and again penetration by a linebacker put the brakes on Brentwood. In the beginning of the second quarter, Josh Stewart shot the gap and tackled the Indians’ runner for a two-yard loss. In the same series. David Fowler and Matt Colton got into the backfield to slow Brentwood’s quick-footed runners before they could get untracked.

The result was an ineffective Brentwood aerial game - and turnovers, a lot of them.

The first quarter featured a pick by Alec Wrieth. In the second, with Brentwood knocking on the door, Keith Meisner pulled down an Indian pass, lobbed into a crowd of green jerseys, on the one.

Meisner was in on the next rescue operation, scrambling to recover a fumble in the end zone after a Brentwood receiver hauled in a pass and dove for pay dirt.

And Wrieth got his second interception in the third when another Indian drive stalled - this time at the 20 - and Brentwood threw helplessly into the unwelcoming night air.

Meanwhile Lindenhurst was able to finish early drives in the Indians end zone twice, and moved the ball with enough effectiveness the rest of the way to limit the time the defense was on the field.

“We shot ourselves in the foot again on offense, too many penalties that killed drives,” Lombardo said. “But the offense moved the ball.”

The first TD came with 4:16 in the first. A pair of runs by Kenny Skon followed by a thirteen-yard Skon reception from Brad Witkowski - who, combined with Skon, went four for nine, 50 yards, one interception - got the Bulldogs inside the 10, allowing David Fowler - who had 48 yards on seven carries - to haul in a pass and rumble into the end zone on the next play.

Joe Lukralle - who had 62 yards, eight carries - provided most of the offense on the next series, tearing up Brentwood turf with a 19-yard run and finishing off the drive with a 10-yard TD, bulling through several defenders to get there.

“Joe did the job for us today,” Lombardo said. “He really came through.”

Next up for Lindenhurst football is a . Game time is at 2 p.m.