PENDER KICKS OFF SEASON
O-C Knights vs. Dragons
by Daniel Kent
On August 31, the Dragon football squad opened the season at home with the O-C Knights. It was hard fought game by both teams, but the Dragons pulled off the win, beating the Knights 12-6.
The Dragons offense rummaged 180 total yards. The leading rusher of the game for Pender was Joey Guenther, running the ball 17 times for 100 yards. Joey G. scored on one of his runs from one yard out. The Dragons second leader was Matt Smith with 9 carries for 48 yards and one touchdown from five yards out. The passing game for Pender offense against O-C: Joey G. completed only 2 of his 7 passes for 17 yards, with Grant Fillipi leading the receivers with one catch for 12 yards.
The Dragon defense was decent, letting the Knights gain 292 yards of total offense; they only allowed 6 points though. Leading tacklers for the Dragons were Brant Wichman and Joey G. with eight solo tackles and one assisted. Matt S. also wrapped up eight solo tackles. The Dragons' take-away leader was Nick Crippen with one fumble recovery.
Special teams for the Dragons were sound gainst the Knights. Bret Meyer punted the ball four times for 104 yards. Chris Schrieber was excellent at punt returner, returning two for 39 yards. Joey G. kicked off three times for 100 yards. On the return side, Connor Heise returned one kick for 21 yards.
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