MIDDLETOWN, NY — Somebody forgot to let the “Dawgs” out.

In Saturday’s Section 9, Class C semi-final matchup between the top-seeded Eagles of Burke Catholic and the #4 Sullivan West Bulldogs, Burke jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first frame. The varsity-level game was played October 29 at Middletown High’s Faller Field.

The Eagles soared on a 40-yard sprint by U.S. Army-bound senior running back Garnett Nicolas (5:31) and a 21-yard pass completion by Brian McHugh to Mark Przybocki (3:47), which was followed in short order by a 38-yard aerial hookup to Austin Londo at 1:20.

All PATs by Burke’s ace foot soldier Dennis Lee sailed through the uprights, adding three points to their overall tally.

In the second quarter, Burke scored on a 44-yard run by Przybocki at 10:37.

Sullivan West (4-5) got on the scoreboard at 9:26 as Collin Hauschild connected on a 39-yard pass to Mike Mullally to make it a 28-6 gridiron contest.

Lee’s PAT was good, but the Bulldogs two-point conversion failed.

Burke (6-3) responded with three unanswered touchdowns to close out the half at 49-6 in their favor: a 21-run run by Nicolas (6:41); a 44-yard pass to Londo (4:40); and with 18 seconds remaining in the half, Nicolas took into the promised land from the five-yard line.

Once again, Lee’s foot added 3 three points.

At 9:56 in the third frame, Burke’s David Ross scored on a one-yard charge to put the Eagles up by 49 points, while Lee contributed a PAT to make it 56-6.

To lead off the final quarter, Burke’s coach sent in his freshman squad in a show of good sportsmanship at the helm.

Lee racked up three-points on a 31-yard field goal at 8:45 to put the Eagles up 59-6

Sullivan West kept fighting to the end, as they scored a pair of TDs: Hauschild linked up with Mike Mullally on a 36-yard completion at 5:59, and in quick succession connected on a 20-yarder to Austin Melchick in the end zone.

The Bulldogs came up short on their initial two-point conversion attempt in the final frame, but in the wake of their second score, Hauschild took it into the end zone for two points, closing out the game with a 59-20 win for Burke.

Sullivan West put 288 yards in the record book on 56 snaps, while Burke racked up 513 total yards on 44 plays.

The aerial attacks were fairly equal: Sullivan West for 135 yards, while Burke had 150.

The Eagles feathered their football nest as Nicolas garnered the game’s offensive MVP title with 169 yards rushing and two TDs, while Przybocki made five tackles, ran for 100 yards and scored on two runs to pick up the defensive MVP award.

Ron Bauer, veteran coach of the Bulldogs, said of the opposition, “They’ve got a real good team… they’re tough, with a lot of quality ballplayers out there.”

“I give my kids credit,” he added. “I think they carried the second half… they battled back.”

Kevin Ross, first year coach of the Eagles, summed up the win.

“I’m proud of my team, [and] Garnett, our running back did a great job… he’s done a really good job of rolling for us.”

Although a hand-lettered sign reading “Let the Dogs Out” greeted the Bulldogs as they entered the arena, it proved to be a “dog day afternoon” for Sullivan West.

But in the final analysis, they gave it their best shot, and that’s all that really matters.

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