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Boscobel sent out a dare to the Iowa-Grant football team Friday.
The Bulldogs ran a defense resembling a goal line stand whenever Iowa-Grant had possession and dared the Panthers to throw the football.
That suited quarterback Ross Havlik and his stable of receivers just fine. Havlik went on to complete 10 of 21 passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Ethan Kuhls. He also teamed up with Michael Winders with a scoring pass that put an exclamation point on the scoring for a 26-14 win.
After Matthew Winders stepped in from the one at the 3:42 mark of the first quarter the Bulldogs threw up their big nine man front and held the Panthers to 64 total yards on the ground for the night. Parker Roth was able to pick up 42 yards on 11 carries and Colin Steffl 13 on seven tries.
"Boscobel has very big kids and they played with nine in the box so we had trouble giving our backs room to run," said coach Gary Allen.
So that left moving the team through the air to Havlik and company and they were up to the challenge.
Kuhls hauled in a pass late in the second quarter from 15 yards out that added up for a 12-0 lead at halftime. The duo clicked for another score and a 20-0 lead with a 27 yard scoring pass play.
Boscobel then found their way into the end zone twice in the third quarter on a one yard plunge by Dakota Frazier and a 35 yard jaunt by Jacob Bray, Bray was a workhorse for the Bulldogs with 78 yards on 14 carries. Frazier was close behind as he picked up 41 yards on his seven attempts.
But the Panthers were able to pull away with a score at the 8:36 mark of the final frame when Havlik spotted Michael Winders in the clear and they collaborated on a 20 yard pass play.
Allen like the chemistry the passing game exhibited.
"Ross threw the ball well and our receivers fought for the catches," Allen said. "Our passing game is improving a little each week. When we give Ross time to throw he can get the ball down field."
Havlik can also play defense which he proved with a big interception deep in Boscobel territory that stopped a drive.
The defense also responded with a stop with their backs close to the Bulldogs' goal line.
The rest of the time it was a battle to see who would be the most resilient and the nod went to the Panthers.
"Boscobel committed to running the ball behind their huge offensive line in the second half and we had trouble adjusting to them," Allen said about the two third quarter Boscobel scores. "They recovered an onside kick after their first score and then scored again. "
But the Panther defense said nothing doing and kept the Bulldogs from scoring the rest of the night.
"Our kids really stepped up in the fourth quarter on defense," Allen said.
The defense will have its work cut out again this Friday as well as the entire Panther squad when they travel to Mineral Point to take on a team that won 54-18 last Friday.
"Mineral Point has some talent and is always well coached," Allen said. "We will need to play well."