Culver receiver Carlos Fernandez prepares to catch a pass during practice on the Culver football field Wednesday afternoon.

CULVER — When the eight seniors on the Culver football team were in middle school, they thought that by the time they were seniors and it was their turn to play under the Friday night lights, they could be the ones to turn the Bulldogs into winners.

At the time it seemed like a tall task for the middle schoolers, as Culver in spring 2021 lost all four of its games during the pandemic-shortened season. But back then, the now senior class was too young to care.

“That was always the goal was to change it around to make a run at state,” said Culver senior tight end and linebacker Jace Silbernagel. “Every kid’s goal when they are young is to win state.”

Four years later, the Bulldogs are thriving. They started the season with five consecutive wins for the first time since 2014. Culver boasts victories over three teams currently in the top 12 of the OSAA Class 2A rankings, with one of them coming last Friday against defending state champion Lowell.

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in Class 2A going into Friday night’s Special District 5 home game against Bonanza.

“We are happy with where we are at,” said Culver coach Brian Silbernagel. “But we aren’t content.”

In recent years, the Bulldogs have not been among the top 2A teams in the state. Last year, despite a rather explosive offense, they won just three games and missed the postseason.

In 2022, they reached the playoffs but had a first-round exit. In fall 2021, in the final year of playing 11-man football before 2A made the switch to 9-man football, the Bulldogs won just one game and had to forfeit their final four games of the season.

But this year’s crew, with eight seniors who have been through the ups and the downs, has put Culver — a small community near Lake Billy Chinook just south of Madras — on the football map after rolling off quality wins over Colton, Lost River and Lowell.

“If you ask people around Oregon where Culver is at, they don’t know,” said senior quarterback and defensive back Houston Wittenberg. “We don’t ever get a lot of attention. People don’t know who we are. It is great for people to finally know who we are.”

A year ago, the Bulldogs showed signs that a season like this one was possible with an offense that averaged more than 40 points per game. But the defense had trouble keeping opponents out of the end zone.

There was belief within the Bulldogs’ locker room that the defense would make strides in 2024. And they have done just that, after giving up 37 points per game last season, the Bulldogs have allowed just 13 points per game this season.

“I knew we were going to be a good team this year,” Jace Silbernagel said. “We were super young last year, we weren’t as developed on defense. I knew that we would be pretty good … I don’t know I would have said we would be 5-0.”

No game showed the growth of the Bulldog defense quite like last week’s 30-13 win at Lowell. In the previous three games Lowell had averaged 55 points per contest. In the first half, Culver held the Devils scoreless. The Bulldogs forced eight turnovers on downs and Wittenberg returned an interception for a touchdown to propel Culver to its marquee win of the season.

“Holding them to zero points in the first half just proved how much our defense has developed,” Jace Silbernagel said. “It showed that we are here and ready to play some football.”

And the Culver offense has not dropped off from last season. The Bulldogs have a number of skill players who have made an impact, but it is the improvement on their three-man offensive line of sophomore Coby Homes, and juniors Dalton Taylor and Tyler Rahi that has really helped the offense remain potent.

“Our offensive line has developed so much,” said senior running back Cole Rahi. “Last year we were pretty good up front. But this year we have excelled so much. We are just so strong up front. And we can, for lack of a better word, bully people up front.”

Now that the Bulldogs are the bullies, things are slightly different. No longer are they an afterthought on their opponents’ schedules.

For Culver, that’s just motivation to continue to work as it tries to win its sixth consecutive game Friday night against Bonanza and get to 6-0.

“You can’t let off at all just because you are ranked number one in the state,” Wittenberg said. “When teams overlook you they don’t feel like they have to go 100 percent against you. You have to work just as hard as you were before you won all the big games and nobody knew who you were. Now that they know, we just have to keep it up.”