Fulton County Ohio Media

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Swanton placekicker Brenden Upham drilled an extra-point kick over the defensive line, through the thickening fog and between the uprights to give the Bulldogs heart-stopping 13-12 victory over the North Central Eagles on their home field in Pioneer, Ohio.  The win ended almost four years of frustration, disappointment and unrewarded effort, that had festered into a school record 37-game losing streak, the longest running streak in the state of Ohio at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

“I need to get it,” said Upham after the game, relating what was going through his mind before the attempt.  “It was a lot of pressure but I felt like I let down my teammates in the first and second quarter,” he added, referring to one blocked and one missed long field goal attempt earlier.  But this kick was true and the entire bench and Swanton student body stormed the field to celebrate the long-awaited win and the end of the agonizing victory drought.

The Bulldogs had almost no offense in the first half.  However, their defense was tight, allowing only a touchdown pass on a broken coverage that gave the Eagles a 6-0 lead at halftime.  Early in the second half, following a North Central fumbled snap while attempting a punt deep in their own territory, Swanton took over the ball at the Eagle’s 21-yard line.  Two running plays culminated in Lucas Fray stretching out over the goal line as he was being tackled to tie the game at 6-6 after the PAT was blocked.

Swanton tightened down on Central’s offense the rest of the half, keeping the Eagles from creating any real scoring opportunities.  The Bulldogs were also unable to put any points on the board, missing two field goals, and the game went into overtime.

The coin flip was won by Swanton and they chose to play defense first.  With the ball placed at the 20-yard line to start the OT, the Eagles put together a seven-play drive, scoring on a reverse running play.  Central attempted a two-point conversion but failed and led 12-6 with the Bulldog offense coming on the field with a chance to tie or win the game.

Facing a third down and 11 yards to go from the 21, quarterback Dennis Robinson found Julian Ramirez behind the Eagle’s secondary and hit him with a strike in the end zone for the tying score.  Upham, also a standout on the Bulldogs soccer team, put the kick over the crossbar, giving Swanton their first football victory since the third game of the 2022 season.

“Thirty-seven games is a long time to wait for a win.  But these kids bought into what we have been doing all summer.  They believed in themselves, fought to the very end and they pulled it out,” said first-year Coach Matt Horen.  “I commend Upham on that, the kicker, too.  We had missed a couple earlier in the game and for him to just walk in and everybody to get a good snap and get that thing down was awesome.”

The Bulldogs will return home for their next game against the Montpelier Locomotives, who also won their game last Thursday night to open the season.  It will be Senior Night for all the Swanton Fall sports teams.  Kickoff is 7:00 PM.

Click on the link above to access over 400 photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CARE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Bulldog Lucas Fray reaches the football back into the end zone for a Swanton touchdown