The Harrisburg Bulldogs started the month of October riding high atop the Class 1, District 5 rankings as well as the Lewis & Clark Conference standings, but this week’s 30-16 loss to No. 6 Marceline, coupled with a loss to Fayette on October 8 changed all of that. Harrisburg has now dropped to the No. 4 seed in the district behind Fayette, Sweet Springs, and South Callaway.

“I feel like we played well enough to be a top two or three seed,” said Harrisburg coach Steve Hopkins. “Especially considering we beat the two seed (Sweet Springs) head-to-head.”

The Missouri State High School Activities Association utilizes a 15-step process to determine district seedings. Needless to say, it is difficult to understand, yet it is the formula used to derive rankings for Missouri.

Harrisburg went into Friday’s game against powerhouse Marceline hoping to be able to raise their standing, but it was not to be. 

In the first quarter, the two teams played to a stalemate with neither team being able to score. 

Marceline was able to break the ice in the second quarter as it scored two field goals to take a 6-0 lead into the locker room.

“We were down 6-0 at halftime and that’s with turning the ball over twice, once inside their 10-yard line, which we just cannot do against a quality opponent,” said Hopkins. 

The Tigers added a touchdown and two-point conversion in the third quarter to give Marceline a 14-0 edge.

Later in the third stanza, Harrisburg’s sophomore running back Hayven Samuels answered those scores with an eight-yard touchdown run of his own to make the score 14-8 after a two-point conversion.

“We were able to get it to one score twice more, first in the third quarter after we gave up an opening drive for a TD in the second half, twice they converted fourth downs,” Hopkins said. “They brought out the chains and they were less than two inches over the mark for a first down. Those are hard to take. We then scored with a nice mix of runs and passes. Our sophomore tailback, Hayven Samuels still has a splint on his hand and has played with a broken hand since week two, really had a big quarter. He had a big catch of over 30 yards and had 30 yards rushing on the drive and scored on an 8-yard run. We made the 2 points and were down only 14-8 when the 4th quarter began.”

Marceline roared back in the fourth with another touchdown run and conversion to make the score 22-8.

“We again thought we had them stopped, and were hoping to get the ball back with a chance to take the lead, and to their credit, they made a big play and caught us in a blitz on fourth and short, and threw a short pass over the middle, and scored to go up 22-8,” Hopkins said.

Bulldog Senior quarterback Tanner Lanes then struck on a 34-yard touchdown pass to Samuels to cut the Tiger’s lead to six.

“We answered with a quick drive and a 34-yard touchdown pass to Hayven Samuels again and made the two-point so we were back to 22-16, with six minutes to go and needing a stop on defense,” Hopkins said.

Once again, the Tigers were able to answer with another touchdown run and conversion to close the game at 30-16.

“We are disappointed in the loss, and still encouraged by the effort. We hope to improve this week, and clean up our turnovers and penalties,” coach Hopkins said.

Lanes went 13-for-23 in the passing department, accounting for a touchdown and two interceptions. 

Samuels ran for 77 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. Lanes carried seven times for 18 yards and senior Gavin Curtis had one carry for two yards.

Senior Jace Carr had eight receptions for 74 yards. Samuels caught three passes for 65 yards while junior Austin Darwent hauled in two passes for 17 yards.

Defensively, senior Tanner Fike paced the team with nine tackles. 

Carr and juniors Darwent, Braden Wyatt, and Logan Fritts each notched four tackles.

Senior Brayton Stephenson, juniors Anthony Alicea, Harley Whitaker, and Brayden Ott, as well as sophomore Hunter Cole, each pulled down three Marceline ball carriers.

Lanes and Curtis, as well a junior Bryce Rowden and sophomores Eric McIntyre and Gaven Samuels each recorded one tackle.

Harrisburg will face the No. 5 seed, Father Tolton in the district playoffs. The Trailblazers are coming off a devastating 66-24 loss to Fayette. The contest will be played at Harrisburg at 7 p.m. on Friday.