Odessa appeared to be in mid-season form as they rolled to a 48-0 win in the season opener on the road at St. Pius X.
Following a Pius special teams miscue that resulted in a safety and the first score of the game, Odessa rattled off 26 unanswered points to take a commanding 28-0 lead by the half.
"The first game there's always an uncertainty heading in," Odessa head coach Mark Thomas said. "We just put together a pretty basic game plan and wanted to play physical, hard and with a lot of intensity. We have a lot of experience coming back and that helped us tonight."
Just one play after the safety, Bulldog quarterback Josey Meierarend connected with Jonas Bennett on a 43-yard touchdown pass.
Meierarend threw his second of three first-half TDs at the 5:39 mark of the first to Eliyh D’Obron giving Odessa a 16-0 edge.
The Bulldogs went to the ground attack for their next score as Dakota DeGraffenried raced into the end zone from nine yards out.
Odessa capped the first-half barrage with another touchdown reception by D’Obron with just over six minutes left in the half.
The Warriors managed to block two PATs and it was a 28-point game at the break.
The lead grew to 35-0 on the first drive of the second half. Bennett scored for the second time on the ground, this time from 25 yards.
With 1:35 to play in the third, Bennett took a screen pass to the house for his third score of the game which put the Bulldogs ahead 42-0.
Blake Heitman’s 29-yard rushing TD with 4:23 to play in the game was the final score of the night and made it 48-0.
"It's our best win since I've been at Odessa," Thomas said. "Our games against Pius have always been tough. It wasn't always easy for us. You have to give them (Pius) credit, they kept playing hard."
Odessa (1-0) hosts Clinton next week, while the Warriors (0-1) are at St. Michael.
