There was some serious hitting at the Dawg Pound Friday night as the Fontainebleau Bulldogs hosted their annual jamboree in front of a huge crowd.

The opening game boasted the usually potent St. Paul’s Wolves against the perennial powerhouse Archbishop Rummel Raiders while the host Bulldogs took on the Crusaders of Brother Martin in the nightcap.

In the opener, it was a back-and-forth affair as each offense found it hard to mount any significant drives. Rummel rushed 13 times for only 57 yards while the Wolves could only manage 51 yards on nine carries. The defense on both sides was outstanding particularly St. Paul’s Houston Bates who seemed to be everywhere.

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St. Paul’s Alec Duncan completed 2-of-4 passes for 19 yards which included a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mikhail Washington to take the opening lead but the PAT was no good keeping it at 6-0.

The Raiders came right back with an outstanding 65-yard punt return by Carvin Johnson followed by Marc Raziano’s successful PAT to give Rummel their first lead of the night at 7-6.

Following several unsuccessful drives by both teams, Rummel’s special team had a hiccup when their punt snap went high over the head of their kicker. The ball went out of the end zone for a safety putting St. Paul’s in the lead again at 8-7.

But that lead was short lived as Johnson scampered for another punt return touchdown this one going for 60 yards. Raziano’s PAT was good again for a 14-8 lead which the Raiders would not relinquish.

Rummel tacked on an-other insurance score to cap the evening when Raiders’ quarterback Luke Cartozzo hit Corey Murphy with a 20-yard scoring pass to ice the 21-8 win.

St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears was optimistic about his team’s showing despite the loss. “We need a lot of work on our special teams but I thought our defense did a great job. We picked our spots and had some good running plays.”

Both offenses had mediocre nights. Rummel rushed for 60 yards on 21 carries. St. Paul’s Washington led the way with 39 yards on five carries. Duncan hit on 7-of-12 passes for 37 yards and a touchdown for the Wolves.

The Raiders had 94 yards of total offense compared to only 60 yards for the Wolves as the two punt return touchdowns turned out to be the difference.

In the final game, Brother Martin had their way on the ground with the Fontainebleau defense. The Crusaders put together two scoring drives, which culminated in touchdowns.

The first drive went 82 yards on eight plays capped by a 12-yard touchdown run by Kyle Keen. Instrumental in the drive was a costly roughing the passer penalty, which allowed the Crusaders to keep the ball instead of punting it. Nathan Dean’s PAT was good to give Brother Martin an early 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff the Dawgs fumbled to set up the Crusaders on the 25-yard line. Four plays later Brother Martin made them pay with a 4-yard touchdown run by Chris Sutton. Dean’s PAT was true again to make it 14-0.

As the first half was drawing to a close, Fontainebleau went on their best drive of the night that started on their own 25-yard line. Seven plays later they had made it to the Crusader 31. But the threat was contained when Crusader defensive back Brian Joseph picked off an Addison Melancon pass to end the threat and also the first half with the Crusaders still on top with a 14-0 cushion.

Brother Martin dominated the second half, allowing Fontainebleau only 18 yards of total offense while they ran up 109 yards of their own.

Crusader quarterback Ronnie Arant had a fine night passing hitting on 6-of-9 for 77 yards and one touchdown. Dante Butler led the way in the running department rushing for 54 yards on six carries.

Fontainebleau hit 4-of-8 in the air for 37 yards and the interception. The Bulldogs’ ground game only mustered 10 yards on six carries.

With only a few minutes left in the game, Arant added insult to injury when he completed a 15-yard TD strike to wide receiver Malcolm Sutleff. Dean made his third consecutive PAT to put the finishing touches on a decisive 21-0 win.