B-H GRIDDERS BOUNCE BACK

    The Britton-Hecla football team bounced back from an opening loss and earned its first win of the season with a solid 36-6 verdict over Leola-Frederick on Friday.
    The win left the Braves with a 1-1 mark heading into a home contest with Redfield this Friday at 7 p.m.  The Pheasants are 0-2 after losing to Leola-Frederick 54-22 and Kimball-White Lake 55-0.
    “I thought our football team showed what we can be last Friday,” said Braves’ boss Jacob Skogstad.  “I loved how physical we were at the point of attack, and we did a great job finishing plays both offensively and defensively. Moving forward, we are going to focus on being the best that we can be. Offensively, I still want to see us be a little bit more efficient, and limit the turnovers. Defensively, I would love to see us force some more turnovers and take some chances.”
    Britton-Hecla took charge in the opening half, scoring 16 first quarter points and 13 in the second stanza for a 29-0 halftime margin.  Bryce Hawkinson, who ran for 178 yards on 14 carries (12.7 ave.) drew first blood with a seven-yard TD run and Jace Rein passed to Jaxon Zuehlke for the conversion.  Ben Suther added a 13-yard scoring run and Hawkinson added the conversion for the 16-0 first period lead.
    Suther grabbed a 31-yard touchdown toss from Rein in the second period and Hawkinson broke loose for a 51-yard gallop with Lofton Heer booting the extra point for the big halftime lead.
    The Titans got on the board with a 20-yard touchdown pass in the final quarter.  Hawkinson added a 73-yard touchdown and Heer added the conversion kick for the final margin.
    Rein threw just six times and completed three for 123 yards, a 41-yard per catch average.  The sophomore quarterback added 73 yards rushing on 11 carries, and Suther had 39 yards on just three tries.
    Leola-Frederick actually had 14 first downs to 12 for the Braves and the time of possession was 22:50-13:04 in favor of the Titans as B-H lost the ball on fumbles on three occasions.  But B-H had a series of big plays and dominated the total yardage stats 422-202 with 299 of those yards coming on the ground.  
    Zuehlke led the Braves’ defensive effort with 12 tackles.  Hawkinson added 5.5 stops and Colton Chapin five.