It was Homecoming in Bennington Friday night and the Bulldogs made the night extra special with a 38-20 victory over Solomon, in the process handing the Gorillas their first loss of the season.  Bennington (2-3) had lost three in a row entering Friday’s contest, but had quality losses against Washington County, Moundridge and defending State Champion Canton-Galva.

After a scoreless opening quarter, the game turned in the second quarter on a failed fourth down attempt by Solomon.  The Gorillas went for it on 4th and 11 from their own 29 yards and could not convert on a pass play.  Bennington would score four plays later on a halfback pass from Jawuan Allen to Cayden Bauer that covered 10 yards.  Quarterback, Ryker Green added the 2 point conversion to give the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead with 7:32 left in the half.  Bennington would get a 3 yard run, for a touchdown, from Jayden Racogno on their next possession.  Green again added the 2 point conversion to increase the lead to 16-0 with 4:31 left in the second quarter.  The offensive play of the game for the Bulldogs came on their next series.  Racogno scored on a 35 yard run on a 4th and 2.  During the run he broke multiple tackles.  His touchdown pushed the Bennington lead to 22-0 with 46 seconds left in the half.  Solomon finally got on the board on the final play of the half on a 32 yard touchdown pass play from Alex Herbel to Spencer Coup.  The Bulldogs led 22-6 at halftime.

Bennington was the first to score in the third quarter, Bauer caught a pass that was deflected, and wasn’t intended for him, then took it in from 20 yards out.  Allen added the 2 point conversion on a reception and the Bulldogs increased their lead to 30-6 with 5:09 left.  Solomon narrowed the gap with another big passing play.  This time Herbel connected with Dawson Dureya on 35 yard touchdown pass play.  Spencer Coup added the 2 point conversion on a reception to cut the deficit to 30-14 with 8.1 seconds left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Racogno put the game away with a 16 yard run.  Bauer added the 2 point conversion to give the Bulldogs a 38-14 lead with 9:22 left in the game.  Solomon would finish off the scoring on the night with a 17 yard Herbel run with 10 seconds left in the game.

The Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game for Bennington was Racogno, he finished with 20 carries for 127 yards and 3 touchdowns.  The player of the game for Solomon was Herbel, he threw for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 93 yards and another score.

Solomon (4-1) will return home to play Lincoln next Friday.  Lincoln defeated Herington 28-8 Friday night.  Bennington will travel to Little River.  Little River fell at Canton-Galva 56-38   Friday night.