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Cowboys Advance to Class A State Quarterfinals with 34-6 Win Over OTC

By Craig Olson, 11/04/22, 8:00PM CDT

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The Breckenridge Cowboys continued their playoff excellence with a 34-6 victory over Ottertail Central in the Section 6A championship game at the Fargodome on Friday.  The Cowboys forced 4 turnovers, did not turn the ball over themselves, and again displayed a powerful ground game with 288 rushing yards as they improved their season record to 8-3, advancing to the Class A State Quarterfinals against Section 5 winner Minneota on Friday, November 11 at 7:00pm in Alexandria.

Breckenridge scored at the 7:06 mark of the first quarter when Gavin Pederson got in the end zone on an 8 yard run for a 6-0 lead.

At 8:24 of the second quarter, Cam Nieto broke loose for 58 yard TD run.  A two-point conversion run by Pederson gave Breckenridge a 14-0 halftime advantage.

At 5:32 of the third quarter Bailey Evans intercepted a pass and went 25 yards for the score.  He then added the extra point kick for a 21-0 lead.  OTC followed with a TD pass from Jack Mekalson to Mason Dalluge at 3:37 of the third, cutting the Cowboys lead to 21-6 after three quarters.

With 8:53 to play in the game, Evans carried the ball in from the one yard line and then added the PAT kick to increase the Cowboys lead to 28-6.  Their final TD came on a one yard run by Alex Sanchez with 1:08 remaining in the game.

Nieto led the Breckenridge rushing attack with 14 carries for 178 yards.  Pederson ran for 71 yards on 18 rushing attempts.  Evans, Alan Martinez and Jaxson Riggs each intercepted a pass.  Alex Martel, Dallen Ernst and Alex Tschakert all had sacks and Landon Blaufuss recovered a fumble.

For the Bulldogs, Mekalson completed six passes for 125 yards.  Dalluge caught 3 passes for 70 yards and Owen Buehler had 3 receptions for 55 yards.  Mason Hammer led the ground attack with 11 carries for 35 yards.  Bricker Bladow ran the ball five times in the first quarter for 14 yards before leaving the game with an injury.  He did not return.  OTC finished with 93 rushing yards and 125 passing yards for a total of 218 yards of offense.