Unbeaten Great Plains Lutheran is coming to town to battle the 3-1 Britton-Hecla grid squad for the Braves’ homecoming football game on Friday at 7 p .m.
The Braves are coming off a dominant performance last week, exploding for 42 first quarter points on the way to a 63-8 win at Florence-Henry in a contest that ended on the 50-point rule at halftime.
GPL shut out Redfield 42-0 and Webster Area 34-0 in its first two games and downed Sisseton 36-14 a week ago. The Braves have also played Webster Area and posted a 59-22 win.
Both teams sport high-powered offenses and stingy defenses. B-H has averaged 47 points per outing and allowed 16 points per game, while GPL has averaged 37 points per game while giving up just five per contest.
“The challenge against GPL will be to stop their ground game,” said B-H coach Jacob Skogstad. “If we can force them to pass, I really like our chances. They are a tough defensive team as well. We need to play sound ball, play our physical brand, and hopefully convert on some explosive plays offensively.”
On Friday the Braves domination began just eight seconds into the game when Ben Suther ran the opening kickoff back 68 yards to paydirt. Lofton Heer booted the first of nine straight extra points and the rout was on. Britton-Hecla would go on to score on all nine of its possessions in the first half with Luke Bosse scoring from the 14 with just two seconds left in the second stanza that ended the game at halftime.
“I thought we came out and played hard from the kick last week against Florence-Henry,” said Skogstad. “We challenged the boys to play with intensity and heart, and that is what we got. I thought we really executed well, and capitalized on mistakes forced.”
Britton-Hecla dominated on both sides of the ball with its defense getting the ball back in Florence-Henry territory for the entire half. The Braves also had the benefit of a gusting wind in the opening quarter and Heer booted all his kickoffs into the end zone on the 80-yard field.
Following the kickoff return the Braves forced a three-and-out and took over on the Falcons’ 18. Three plays later quarterback Jace Rein, who scored four rushing TD’s in the game and passed for two more, scored from 10 yards out. Ben Suther intercepted a third down pass on GPL’s next possession and it took just two plays before Rein scored on a seven-yard jaunt.
Graham Fosness came up with his second sack of the night to help force another Falcons’ punt and this time Rein passed 35 yards to Mitchell Burger on second down and it was 28-0 with 4:29 left in the opening period.
Then on first down Elijah Fox pounced on a GPL fumble and three plays later Rein scored again from the six. Easton Zuehlke thwarted a GPL fake punt to get the ball back again and two plays later Rein connected with Nathaniel Schuller from the six for the 42-0 margin after one quarter.
After another three-and-out the Braves needed to convert a pair of third downs before Rein scored his final TD on a 24-yard scamper. GPL finally got on the board on a 53-yard run before Lincoln Kilker and Bosse put on the finishing touches with scores for the Braves.
The Braves held a 223-40 total yards advantage. Rein led the way with 78 yards rushing on seven carries and added 78 more through the air, connecting on 5-6 tries. Colt Hanson led the defensive effort with eight stops.
The Braves are already midway through the regular season and after four games Rein has emerged as the biggest offensive threat. The senior QB has hit 26-35 passes for 426 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 213 yards and eight scores. Suther has added 311 yards rushing on 34 carries and five touchdowns. Burger is the top receiver with 11 catches for 229 yards and three TD’s. Hanson is the top tackler with 28.
SEE FULL STATS IN THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
