Football: No worries for Bulldogs

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By Dearrel Bates | Saturday, August 30, 2008 |

Bettendorf defenders take down Pleavant Valley's John Lindstrom in the season opener Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, in Bettendorf. (Andrew Link/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

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First-year head coach Aaron Wiley insisted he had a good night’s sleep Thursday, hours before his Bettendorf football team took the field for its season opener against neighboring Pleasant Valley.

“I’m always nervous before a first game of the season,’’ said Wiley, a longtime assistant in the program who replaced Randy Scott at the Bettendorf helm.

He need not worry.

Bettendorf, the defending Mississippi Athletic Conference and Iowa Class 4A Iowa state champion, launched the 2008 season Friday with a 37-7 victory over the Spartans at TouVelle Stadium.

“The ball bounced our way a couple of times,’’ Wiley said. “The big question mark we had coming in was if our defense could stop the other team’s running game. I thought we did a pretty good job.

“Our offense is still a bit hit-and-miss, and we’ll need more consistency. But we do have some depth at running back and receivers, maybe more than we’ve had in a long time.’’

The Bulldogs defense, save for a pair of long runs (32 and 37 yards) late in the game by PV reserve quarterback Mitch Michaelis, limited the visitors to 45 yards rushing. Throw in those two long runs — with the latter going for a touchdown with 1 minute, 21 seconds left — and passing yardage, the Spartans ended with 179 yards.

Offensively, Bettendorf had 281 yards.

Interestingly enough, a reserve, Chris Sanders, led with 77 yards on two runs, including 74-yard scamper early in the fourth period.

It was 20-0 at intermission, with the Bulldogs’ first score coming on a fluke play and the next two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 12 yards by Jared Masterson.

After forcing a punt in the opening minutes, Masterson fumbled on a run up the middle. The ball was scooped up by teammate Pat Brown and returned 43 yards for a touchdown.

“I just saw the ball on the ground, picked it up and went,’’ said the 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior who doubles as a flanker on offense (who caught four passes for 53 yards) and a defensive back on defense. “I thought our defense played pretty strong and our offense fairly well once we got going.’’

Masterson added a third period touchdown run of 5 yards and kicker Nate Meyer slammed home a 44-yard field goal midway through the final quarter.

Pleasant Valley coach Rusty VanWetzinga wasn’t displeased with his team’s effort.

“That first touchdown just took a bounce right into Bettendorf’s arms,’’ he pointed out. “Our offensive line has to grow up but I wasn’t discouraged by the way our defense played. We’re not that far away but we certainly have to get better.’’

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.