By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

The Brass Bugle took a trip west on U.S. Highway 192 Friday night. It knew the way.

St. Cloud claimed the hallowed horn with its third straight victory in the Soldier City Classic, beating Harmony 28-7.

Irving Huggins (14 carries, 122 yards, 2 TDs) and Phillip Steinmetz (14-100) each went over the century mark rushing as the Bulldogs rolled up 431 yards of offense.

St. Cloud tied the series (3-3) and beat rivals Harmony and Osceola on the field for the first time in the same season, although the season-opener against the Kowboys was forfeited for use of an ineligible player.

"Does that make us the county champions?" Bulldogs Coach Bill Buldini asked wryly. "It was a great crowd and a good win for the kids, especially with all we've been through this year."

A near-capacity crowd numbering in the 4,000 range was unfazed by chilly weather and the game's lack of playoff implications, like the last three seasons. They watched St. Cloud (4-6) romp to a 14-0 lead after just nine offensive plays.

The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and went 62 yards in just four plays. After a sack, quarterback Phillip Steinmetz hit Brett Biller and Cole Harvey on 36 and 15-yard passes before Eric Pfeiffer scored on a 21-yard run. After Harmony (4-5) punted on their first drive, Huggins went around the right end, stiff-armed a tackler and sped down the sideline on a 61-yard touchdown run.

It stayed a two-score game through halftime, but the Bulldogs made it 21-0 on their first drive of the third quarter, going 71 yards in 12 plays, punctuated by Huggins' 2-yard run. The junior would put the game away with 2:07 left in the quarter when he ran for 22 yards on fourth-and-6 from the Longhorn 28. Pfeiffer ran it in from the 6 on the next play.

Harmony, which didn't have a first down in the second or third quarters despite quarterback Adam Harvey returning from injury, got on the board with 7:15 left in the game when Austin Ocasio scored on a 2-yard run. The Longhorns had 182 offensive yards, led by C.J. Clayton (14 carries, 75 yards).

Steinmetz was 11-of-28 passing for 149 yards. The junior said that despite there being no playoffs or bowl game in store this season, playing his team's main rivals was all the motivation needed to give great effort.

"Our main goal was to land the first blow, and we did that we felt pretty good," he said. "We made some mental mistakes but I thought we played great.

"I'm undefeated against these guys, so now I can think about finishing off against them next year."

Only St. Cloud seniors have seen the team lose to the Longhorns. Pfeiffer (nine carries, 52 yards, 2 TDs) hasn't seen it, he's only heard about it.

"That was a long time ago," he said as he turned to look at the Longhorn field scoreboard. It was turned off.