Waterloo took out seven years of frustration on its cross-county football rival Friday night, winning 49-6 over Columbia before a large crowd.

The Bulldogs, who last won against the Eagles in 2014, came busting out of the gates and kept up the pressure all night.

“We were able to run the ball a bit and got them on their heels,” Waterloo head football coach Dan Rose said.

Following his 37-yard kickoff return to start the game, Jack McFarlane scored on a 20-yard run at 9:55 of the opening quarter to put Waterloo on top.

The Eagles answered with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Dom Voegele to Drew Megginson at 7:10 of the first quarter, but the extra point kick was blocked.

After forcing the ‘Dogs to punt, Columbia had its sights set on a lead. Waterloo’s defense had other things in mind. 

A Voegele pass was picked off by Bryce Reese, who ran it in from 33 yards  out to put the home team up 14-6 at 3:49 of the first quarter and send the Waterloo fans into a frenzy.

“That really gave us a spark, because it was a tight game at that point,” Rose said.

Waterloo added to its lead early in the second quarter, the key play being an 18-yard pass from Aidan Morrow to Adron Winget. Evan Davis rushed for a four-yard TD to make it a 21-6 lead for Waterloo with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Winget then recovered an Eagles fumble near midfield, and the Bulldogs cashed in with another short TD run by Davis to go up 28-6 at the 5:13 mark of the second quarter.

Desperately trying to muster something positive at the end of the first half, Columbia’s offense was stopped on a fourth-and-one play with just over two minutes left before halftime. Waterloo kept the pedal down, with Morrow connecting on a 21-yard pass to Winget and then a thrilling 39-yard TD pass to McFarlane to give Waterloo a 35-6 advantage at halftime.

Adding to Columbia’s misery, the Eagles fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half, giving Waterloo great field position. McFarlane ripped off a 28-yard run, and then Davis punched it in from short yardage to give the ‘Dogs a 42-6 lead at 10:41 of the third quarter.

Waterloo’s Maxwell Mitchell also got into the action, adding an eight-yard TD run near the end of the third quarter.

With a lead of more than 40 points, this score led to the rest of the game being played with a continuously running clock.

“We played power football and were able to slow them down on offense,” Rose said.

Waterloo finished the game with 269 total yards rushing, led by Davis with 117 yards.

Morrow was 7-of-9 passing for 120 yards and a TD.

Waterloo kicker Lexi Stephens, who last week became the first female to score a point in program history, was a perfect 7-for-7 on extra point attempts.

“I told her that’s pretty uncommon to go 7-for-7. She did great,” Rose said.

For Columbia, Voegele was 17-of-29 passing for 156 yards with a TD and interception. He also rushed for 42 yards.

While it was the first win in seven years for the ‘Dogs over the Eagles, Rose is 10-9 overall against Columbia as head coach for Waterloo.

Waterloo (1-1) travels to Carbondale (1-1) this Friday. 

“They are very athletic and very fast, plus they have two 300-pounders on the offensive line,” Rose assessed. 

Waterloo has won four of its last six games against the Terriers, dropping the past two.

Columbia (0-2) hosts Marquette (0-2) in search of its first win.

Tigers take a tumble

The Dupo football team suffered a 46-6 defeat at the hands of Carnahan during its home opener on Friday night. 

Logan Stevens rushed for 211 yards on 31 attempts for the Tigers, but Carnahan was able to bottle up Dupo quarterback Freddie McMahon.

He was just 1-for-7 passing for 27 yards and two interceptions and rushed for only 14 yards.

Dupo (1-1) will attempt to get back on the winning track with a home game this Friday against Madison. 

Madison enters the game with an 0-2 record.

For photos from Friday’s rivalry game, click here.