One of the prettiest plays in last night's ACGC loss to top ranked Van meter was a 30 yard touchdown pass from Charger quarterback Bryce Littler to Kolby Jacobe. Littler's spiral dropped perfectly into Jacobe's outstretched arms to put the Chargers on the scoreboard and complete an eight play, 65 yard drive with just one minute remaining in the first half. Unfortunately for the Chargers there were few other"pretty" plays, as Van Meter demonstrated why they are the number one ranked team in its 63-6 win over the Chargers.

It took a while before the Bulldogs got rolling, as they did not put up any points until just under five minutes remained in the first quarter. The Chargers had held VM on its first possession, giving Charger fans something to cheer about early on. But after forcing the Chargers to punt the ball away on both its first two possessions, the Bulldogs got on the scoreboard when Zach Drummond scampered 55 yards to put VM on board. VM added another touchdown four minutes later after forcing a Charger punt, to make the score 14-0 after one quarter.

The visitors added two scores in the second stanza, one a 2 yard run by Ian Abrahamson and the other a 46 yard pass from Anthony Pottoff to Camerson Smolik to increase its lead to 28-0 with just under five minutes remaining in the half. It was time for the Charger TD pass.

After Jacobe returned the kickoff to the Charger 35 yard line, the home team picked up three first downs, one on a pass interference penalty on VM. Ben Kingery's nine yard run moved to ball to the Bulldog 30 yard line, and the stage was set for the Littler to Jacobe TD pass. It came on a first down and perhaps it caught the VM defense looking for the run, as Jacobe got behind the defense and never broke stride on the way to pay dirt. Littler's pass seemed to hang in the air for minutes, as Jacobe ran under the ball, took it into his arms near the goal and was tacked in the end zone. TOUCHDOWN CHARGERS! Although they trailed 28-6 after the touchdown, it gave the home team something to cheer about and gave some hope for the second half.

Van Meter had other ideas. It seemed as if the Bulldogs were very unhappy about giving up a touchdown, because they came back with a vengeance, scoring three touchdowns in quarter number three to take a commanding 49-6 lead. Unofficially VM held the Chargers to 18 offensive yards in the quarter. Nothing worse than a mad Bulldog!

The visitors added two scores in the fourth quarter on runs of 43 and 42 yards respectively, as reserves saw most of the action. With the exception of Abrahamson's two yard run, a 15 yard pass play in the first quarter, and a 4 yard run in the fourth, most of the Bulldogs TD's were long passes or runs: 55, 46, 67, 49, 53, and 43 yards. Safe to say the Bulldogs have a break away offense. And easy to see why they are so highly regarded.

To Van Meter's credit, it likely would have scored another TD late in the game, but the reserve quarterback took a knee on several plays to end the game. Another reason they are so highly regarded.

For the Chargers, it is a difficult pill to swallow, especially after showing improvement last week at Tri-Center. But the season is not over. There are winnable games ahead. Go Chargers!

Charger stats were unavailable at post time and will be added when available.

Next Friday, Sept, 28 the Chargers will travel to Clarinda for a 7 PM start.

Score by quarters:

Van Meter 14 14 21 14--63

ACGC 0 6 0 0 -- 6

Charger statistics:

Passing: Bryce Littler, 2 attempts, 1 completion, 30 yards, 1 touchdown

Rushing: Gavin Cornelison, 5 attempts, 14 yards; Charlie Crawford, 9-4; Ben Kingery, 20-71; Bryce Littler, 4-(-1); Hunter Pauley, 1-3; Gabe Rowley, 3-9

Receiving: Kolby Jacobe, 1 reception, 30 yards, 1 touchdown

Tackles: Easton Benson, 1 solo, 1 assist; Gage Butler, 1-3; Will Byers, 0-2; Charlie Crawford, 1-0; Spencer Grove, 2-1; Kolby Jacobe, 1-1; Cayden Jensen, 0-1; Ben Kingery, 2-6; Bryce Littler, 4-1; Sam Madsen, 0-2; Lucas marsh, 1-1; Gabe Rowley, 5-2; Reid Rumelhart; 0-2; Avery Wheatley, 2-3; Quynton Younker, 1-4

Kickoffs: Will Byars, 2 for 50.5 ave

Punting: Kolby jacobe, 7 for 31.1 ave

Kickoff returns: Kolby Jacobe, 8 for 19.4 ave