Britton-Hecla used a dominant first half to hand an unbeaten team its first loss for the second straight week with a 40-22 win over Waubay-Summit on Friday.
The Braves, now 5-1, have a bye this week before closing out the regular season with a pair of road games at Redfield and Sisseton.
Friday’s contest could be called a tale of two halves. B-H scored three touchdowns in the opening period and led 34-0 at halftime, but Waubay-Summit outscored the Braves 22-6 in the second half. The statistics for the game were a bit misleading with the Mustangs actually outgaining Britton-Hecla 335-314.
“I loved the effort that we came out with from the start, and I thought the first two quarters of football was some of the best ball we have played all season,” said B-H boss Jacob Skogstad. “I want to see us have more of a killer instinct and not let the opposition back into the game late, but other than that I was very proud of the way our guys played.”
Skogstad said his squad will use its bye week to work on some little things to keep moving forward.
“The focus this week is just to continue getting better and to clean up some small stuff before the final push.”
The Braves have made a habit of taking charge of games early this season, averaging 35.7 points per game in the first half. Friday the first score came on the very first play of the game when Jace Rein hit Mitchell Burger with a 62-yard pass and B-H led 7-0 just 12 seconds into the contest.
Waubay-Summit responded with a couple of first downs and drove to the Braves’ 31 before turning the ball over on downs, and this time the Braves needed six plays before Rein broke a 38-yard scoring run after converting a third and 10 for a 14-0 margin.
Ben Suther, who scored four touchdowns in the game, also had an impact on the defensive side of the ball with a sack on fourth and one on the Mustangs’ next possession. B-H took over on the W-S 44 and Suther lugged the pigskin seven straight times, scoring on a two-yard run to give the Braves a 21-0 lead at the quarter break.
Lost fumbles on two consecutive possessions for Waubay-Summit stymied the Mustangs early in the second frame. The Braves turned the second miscue into another score when Suther rambled for 22 yards on first down and then found the end zone from the nine to lead 27-0.
W-S put together its best drive of the first half, going 39 yards on 10 plays but stalled on the B-H 38. Then the Braves came up with another first down haymaker when Rein found Suther with his second 62-yard scoring toss of the game for the 34-0 halftime advantage.
Fans witnessed a rarity in the third period when Waubay-Summit held the ball for virtually the entire quarter, running 19 straight plays and converting four fourth downs, the last one a one-yard TD run to get on the board with just 42 seconds left in the quarter. The Braves ran just one play in the stanza.
The Mustangs also scored on their next possession to keep their faint hopes alive, cutting the margin to 34-14 with 10:35 to play, but Suther slammed the door with his final score of the game on a 38-yard scamper on another first play of a drive with 5:17 remaining.
Suther led the Braves with 131 yards on 14 carries, a 9.4-yard per carry average. Rein added 55 yards rushing as the Braves held a 185-151 advantage on the ground. B-H completed just 3-7 passes but those three catches went for 129 yards.
Colton Chapin had another big game on the defensive side of the ball with 12.5 tackles. Ben Suther added 9.5 stops and a sack, Max Suther seven tackles, and Graham Fosness five tackles and two sacks.
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