The Rutherford Pee Wee Bulldogs (8-9 year olds) have played in some tight battles the past three weeks and finally found themselves on the right side of the win column. The Carlstadt/ER Wildcats visited the Bulldogs this past weekend and the Dogs came out with a 13-12 victory. The Wildcats jumped out on the Bulldogs 6-0 early in the first quarter. Rutherford looking for a spark on offense and got it when safety Dmitri Paskas fielded a punt and returned it 32 yards up the right side to set up the Bulldogs first score. Rutherford running back George Brewton pounded three runs to the Wildcats 4 yard line and facing 4th and goal with 5 seconds left, qb Myles Balchan found Vinny DeNunzio in the back of the end zone to tie the game up. The second half had a couple three and outs by the Wildcats offense, done in by a strong Bulldog defense.  Linemen Declan Manning, Russ Snyder, AJ Nunziato and Chris Kasperan closed the running holes and cornerbacks Matthew Bonagura and Kai Doyle patrolled the outsides. The Wildcat offense scored midway through the fourth quarter, capitalizing on a Bulldog turnover. Trailing 12-6, the Bulldogs started their winning drive on their own 39 yard line. Rutherford used fullback Emmet Carney and Brewton to march down, highlighted by a 22 yard scamper by Brewton, putting the ball on the Wildcats 2 yard line. The Bulldogs offensive line was anchored by Evan Diaz, Angelo Pizza, Lorenzo Airey and Hank Schroeder. A quarterback sneak by Balchan tied the game up and George Brewton took a handoff around the left end and with a great block by Doyle the Bulldogs sealed the victory. The Rutherford Junior Bulldogs (10-11 year olds) were able to come up with a big victory, 16-12 over the Carlstadt/East Rutherford Wildcats. It was a harsh battle where defense ruled the night. The Wildcats were able to shut out the Bulldogs 12-0 in the first half. After halftime adjustments the Bulldogs were able to gain momentum and shut out the Wildcats in the second half. The Bulldog defense was led by the intimidating duo of Luke Cerulli and Chris Lora, who both controlled the line of scrimmage the entire second half. David Rojas, Yahya El Feshawi, Owen Fernandez, Devin Burgos, Laudan Henry, Antonio “Animal” DeCarlo, and Marchello Fernandez rounded out a stellar performance by the Bulldog defense. On offense, QB Aiden Doyle, was able to get things going in the second half for the Bulldogs. Cole Goumas continued his streak of scoring at least one touchdown in every game, by having two touchdowns against the Wildcats.  His first was set up by a pivotal 41 yard run by Lauden Henry in the third quarter.  With under four minutes left in the game, down 12-8, the Bulldogs safety, Jimmy Queli, picked off a Wildcat pass to set up Goumas with what would become the winning touchdown.  Aside from Andrew Moller’s solid contribution on both offense and defense, he again delivered in the kicking game, with two important two point kicks after each of Gouma’s touchdowns. The Senior RJF&C squad (12-13 year olds) fell short another week as they lost to the ER/Carlstadt Wildcats 13-0. The Wildcats jumped on the Bulldogs early as they scored two touchdowns in the first quarter. The Bulldogs were able to move the ball up and down the field but just could not punch it in as they found themselves in the red zone multiple times. The second quarter the Bulldog defense held strong and did not allow The Wildcats to get anything going on offense. The second half Rutherford was able to move the ball again and found themselves in scoring positions multiple times but could not make it into the end zone. Defensively, Rutherford held on to not allowing another score by the Wildcats. The Mighty Mites (7 year olds) didn’t have an opponent this Saturday so they created one. The team of feisty little Bulldogs was split to form a Blue and White intra-squad game.  These boys showed how much they love to play defense as only one score was yielded on the day. The injured Jackson Byrne was missed on the day but Nico Cassano, Blayke Burgos, DJ Gregory, and Rene Roa (Blue squad) made things tough for the White squad in his absence.  The White squad was the lucky group to find the end zone when Zach Snyder cut back and forth for a fifty yard score behind great blocking from Vinny Urgola, Will Holman, Gerald Moran, and Jeremy Basta. They are all eager to get back together under one common jersey next week and represent the program as they have done so well all season. The Junior Bulldogs will be on the road Saturday at North Arlington.