Bulldog defense stymies Eagles offense
by Mike Sonntag. Let’s Play Football
The 2024 version of the Becker Bulldog football team left no doubts during their run to the Prep Bowl dominating their opponents throughout the season and the playoffs. The undefeated Totino-Grace Eagles on paper looked to be the worthiest obstacle for the Bulldogs to overcome to complete a perfect season, one that saw their hall of fame coach Dwight Lundeen win his 400th game in an opening night win over Hill-Murray. A fast, deep, disciplined, and veteran Bulldog team put an exclamation mark to the championship caliber team they were with a convincing 24-8 win at U.S. Bank Stadium to claim the Class 4AAAA title.
The Bulldogs won the battle on all phases of the game. The offense amassed 283 total yards most of it on the ground. Becker opened the scoring when Landen Kujawa bounced off a tackle and raced 32 yards to put Becker up 7-0 late in the first quarter. Carter Reckelberg followed that with a 54-yard run, a play that saw the senior wide receiver get to the edge on a sweep then cut back across the field and out-run the Eagles defense to bump the Becker lead to 14-0.
After stopping Totino Grace on a 4th and short on their own side of the field, it appeared Becker was set to score and carry a commanding three score lead in to halftime, but Totino Grace junior corner Jaden Miller gave the Eagles hope by intercepting a pass in the end zone to keep the score 14-0 at halftime.
The Becker defense made it tough for Totino Grace to get anything going offensively.That hope lasted 18 seconds into the second half when two-way player junior Sawyer Brown stepped in front of a would-be-Eagles receiver and housed a 30-yard interception and just like that it was 21-0 Becker.
The Bulldogs special teams got into the act when a blocked Totino-Grace punt put Becker on the Eagles’ 21-yard line and senior Evan Norberg kicked a 26-yard field goal to make the score 24-0 Becker.
Becker stopped Totino Grace on 4th down three times in the game, and Totino-Grace did not cross over 100 yards of offense until the fourth quarter on a drive that led to a short touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jake Person to his junior end tight end Luther Bunge. Senior running back Syl Berg plunged in for the two-point conversion for Totino-Grace to finish the scoring 24-8.
Totino Grace’s Syl Berg gets a pass near the goal line during Friday’s Class AAAA Prep Bowl match up against Becker.Totino-Grace finishes the season an impressive 12-1. Head coach Jay Anderson praised his senior group for putting Totino-Grace on the back on the map after moving from Class 6AAAAAA two years ago. “I am proud of these kids and can’t thank them enough for what they did for our program.” Anderson said.
Dwight Lundeen is in his 55th season and now has four state titles to his credit.Becker finishes a perfect 13-0 giving coach Lundeen his 412th victory in 55 seasons of coaching. “I could not be happier for our community, for these young men. These seniors dressed as freshmen and after a tough section loss made a commitment to get here and they made it happen.” Lundeen said.
MSHSL Game Sheet: https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/2024-fb-aaaa-pb-tg-becker.pdf
