A defensive battle decided the fourth- and fifth-grade Toy Bowl championship when the Hurricanes held off the Bulldogs 12-6 Sunday at Youth Sports Inc. fields.

“I thought we were going to win coming into the game. I’m not too sure about the other guys on the team, but I had lots of confidence,” said Hurricane defensive end Creyton Gardner.

The Bulldogs were able to slow down the Hurricanes’ high-octane offense in the first half, but both teams relied heavily on their punting personnel.

The Hurricanes did put together a drive with 2:50 left in the half when the Hurricane defense recovered a fumble on the 50-yard line. The Hurricanes ran three running plays to convert a first down, but a couple of plays later a holding penalty set up a third-and-20. A 15-yard pass from quarterback Kyle McFarland to Drake Hofer wasn’t enough yardage, and despite going for the first down on fourth-and-five, the Hurricanes gave the Bulldogs back the ball with a turnover on downs.

The Bulldogs tried to go for a long pass play to potentially catch the Hurricanes off guard, but the attempt backfired as McFarland intercepted the ball. The Hurricanes were satisfied to let the clock run and close out the scoreless first half.

The second half started with a bang though when Hurricanes kick returner Cody Scott took the Bulldogs kickoff all the way to the house. The Hurricanes couldn’t convert the extra point and thus held a 6-0 lead.

The Hurricanes’ defense stepped up to stop the Bulldogs on their next drive when linebacker Joe Dineen sacked Bulldog quarterback for a loss of 10 yards to force a punt.

The Hurricanes were able to set up another long scoring drive, even though it looked as if the Bulldogs defense was going to stop them.

Scott picked up two yards on a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive, then on the next play McFarland threw a screen pass to running back Stan Skwarlo. Behind a convoy of blockers, Skwarlo ran 25 yards into the end zone to give the Hurricanes a 12-0 lead.

But the Bulldogs responded with a successful scoring drive of their own when running back Skyler Shockley took the ball in for a five-yard score with just a few minutes remaining.

Hurricane quarterback Kyle McFarland reaches for the loose ball as the defensive line of the Bulldogs tries to recover the fumble during the fourth- and fifth-grade championship game Sunday at Youth Sports Inc.

The Bulldogs defense held and the Bulldogs got the ball back at their own 40 with two minutes to play. Shockley broke a 20-yard scamper, followed by a nine-yard run to move the ball to the 11-yard line. A few plays later the Bulldogs got a big break on fourth-and-inches when a quarterback sneak provide just enough yardage for the first down.

But three plays later the Bulldogs still hadn’t found the end zone or reached the first down maker and thus set themselves up with perhaps one last play.

On fourth-and-6, Bulldog receiver Luke Fursman jumped up to retrieve a high pass but the ball sailed just through his fingertips and out of the end zone.

The turnover on downs meant the Bulldogs could no longer stop the clock and the Hurricanes needed to just kneel down for the Toy Bowl victory.