Bulldogs bury short-handed Muskies

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By Dearrel Bates | Saturday, September 6, 2008 12:44 AM CDT | () comments

MUSCATINE, Iowa — It’s hard to believe the score with 6 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter of Friday night’s Mississippi Athletic Conference football game had Bettendorf leading Muscatine 10-5 and preparing to kick off to the Muskies.

After that, if it had occurred in political circles, it could be called a landslide. And host Muscatine was the team that wound up being buried.

Bettendorf claimed a 52-12 victory with the clock running continuously in the final 21:32 because of the state’s rule regarding lopsided games, which probably shocked the big crowd that turned out at Muscatine’s Community Stadium.

“When it was 10-5, Bettendorf’s momentum certainly took over,” first-year Muscatine coach Tony Napierala said after his team fell to 1-1. “We didn’t have certain kids in the first half, including missing a kid that caught 16 balls last week, but that’s not an excuse.

“Bettendorf is just a very good team, and hopefully we’ll get another shot at them down the road when we have our full team.”

The Muskies were missing a number of players, including all-state receiver/kicker/defensive back Edwin Arceo. He, along with several others whose names were not revealed by Napierala, had to sit out the first half for a violation of team rules. On this night, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference.

“We had heard rumors about Muscatine going to miss some starters, but that didn’t make any difference in how we prepared for them,” Bettendorf coach Aaron Wiley said.

Two players were especially in Muscatine’s hair all night as the No. 2 state-ranked and defending Class 4A champions moved to 2-0.

It isn’t often a defensive player scores two touchdowns in a game but that’s what

6-foot-4 junior defensive end Daniel Byrne did. He picked off a pair of Kyle Allgood passes and returned them 9 and 16 yards for scores, one in a 31-point second period salvo and the other on the first play from scrimmage in the third period.

“It was a team thing on both plays; our linebackers called out screen and I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Byrne, who was a linebacker last week in a win over Pleasant Valley but shifted to end against the Muskies’ spread offense.

Senior Pat Brown snagged seven passes for 111 yards and two scores. He also intercepted two passes that led to a couple of touchdowns.

Right after a Bettendorf bad snap on a punt attempt slithered out of the end zone for a safety in the second quarter, the Bulldogs were forced to kick off. That’s when Brown swiped a pass that led to four touchdowns and a 38-5 halftime advantage in a span of 5:42.

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