The Dublin Lions advanced to 3-0 in District and 7-1 for the season following a 28-20 away victory over the Merkel Badgers.
The Lions came out to an early lead and was 20 points over Merkel at the half.
The home team returned fired up though and Lions Head Football Coach Greg Hardcastle admitted that he had to give credit to the Badgers for battling hard in the second half and staying in the game.
“They had some of the quickest defensive linemen we’ve seen this season,” Hardcastle said.
This lead to the Dublin boys not scoring a lot of yardage in rushing, although Mosiah Lolohea and Chris Teten each scored a TD in rushing.
Christian Ramirez had 128 yards in receiving and went 4 for 4 in PAT kicks.
Cooper Hubble had 81 yards in receiving, adding another TD and Tyler Harrell brought in the other TD in receiving.
Lions kept pace defensively with Javier Parra adding nine tackles, Lolohea and Jacob Lopez tackling seven and Hubble and Payton Williams bringing down six.
Hardcastle reported that the Lions will continue to work on their running game as they prepare to face the Bulldogs at Millsap at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Hardcastle said Millsap are 1-2 in district but said they are a good team.
The Lions have already secured a playoff seat with tentative plans to play on Nov. 12. Dublin is looking to keep growing their record as they head towards the playoffs.