The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

SUNNYSIDE - The Dayton Bulldogs took an early lead after scoring a touchdown on their opening drive against Sunnyside Christian Friday night. But their defensive woes continued, as the Knights rolled to a 76-20 victory.

Dayton's Ben Kleck scored all three Dayton TDs. On that opening drive, quarterback Cal Martin connected with Kleck for a 35-yard touchdown pass. Later, Kleck scored on a 73-yard touchdown run and teamed with Martin again on a 66-yard touchdown pass.

Dayton Coach Jerry Dedloff says that, despite the team's struggles, his players aren't giving up. "We all knew this would be a monumental rebuilding year and so far I think we have been pretty successful in that respect," Dedloff said. "We have a few veteran players who could play on just about any team we've faced but in general most of our team is still learning the basic fundamentals of football (how to block and how to tackle). When those two things are not happening the way they need to the score can snowball on you in a hurry and that's what happened tonight."

Dedloff also cited injuries to two veteran players, which hampered his team's efforts.

For the game, Martin completed nine passes out of 25 attempts, for a total of 229 yards. He also rushed for 25 yards on five carries. Kleck had eight catches for 201 yards and the two TDs. He also rushed four times for 78 yards and the one rushing TD.

"One of the great things about this team is that no one is even thinking about throwing in the towel," said Dedloff. "They just want to keep working hard and try to get better."

Dayton plays its homecoming game Friday night against St. John/Endicott. Game time is 7 p.m.