Valley Falls, led by senior running back Allen Schoonover, first got on the scoreboard with 4:29 left in the first quarter and then never looked back.

By the end of night, the Dragons tallied six touchdowns in a 39-0 rout.

The Bulldogs showed signs of a productive offense at times on Friday. MHS had 103 rushing yards and 88 passing yards, but any Bulldog drive near the Dragons goal line abruptly ended.

Then came the Valley Falls offense, which hurt McLouth with plenty of big plays.

But for first-year coach Harry Hester, who tallied four successful seasons as an assistant at Cherryvale before coming to McLouth, Friday’s loss didn’t spell doom for the rest of the season.

“This is step one,” Hester said. “We will build from here.”

As disappointing as the game was, Hester and his staff saw a couple bright spots Friday.

Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Steffey rifled a throw to sophomore tight end Joel Gill, who completed a 64-yard pass play. Steffey went 4-for-14 and 88 total passing yards on the evening.

Defensively, the Bulldogs halted a Valley Falls drive with a fumble recovery late in the third quarter.

“We found out where we were and what we can do,” Hester said.

The Bulldogs find themselves at 0-1 with another hefty task ahead of them this Friday. Defending Delaware Valley League champion Jackson Heights pays the Bulldogs a visit. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in McLouth.