The Britton-Hecla football squad ran its season mark to 2-0 with a solid 44-16 home-opening win over Florence-Henry on Friday.
The Braves will hit the road on Friday, traveling to 0-2 Waverly-South Shore. The two clubs have played one common opponent with B-H defeating Great Plains Lutheran in their season opener 20-16 while Waverly-South Shore lost a 46-0 decision.
“I thought we played a heck of a football game on Friday,” said B-H boss Jaacob Skogstad. “Our offense was able to establish our run game a little bit more effectively than we did against GPL, and that led to some big opportunities in the passing game. It was exciting for us to see so much production out of so many kids both offensively and defensively.
“The biggest thing for us to work on this week is cleaning up the penalties and getting as healthy as we can be by Friday. No injuries to note of, but a lot of kids are pretty banged up and sore.”
The Braves put on an offensive show for their home opener, scoring four touchdowns of over 50 yards. Sophomore quarterback Jaxon Zuehlke hooked up with Daniel Person for two of those big hits on touchdown passes of 73 and 58 yards. Zuehlke ended up hitting 5-10 passes for 184 yards and Person hauled in four of the aerials for a whopping 174 yards.
Sophomore running back Bryce Hawkinson set the tone early when he scampered 61 yards on a third and five on the Braves first possession of the game, and backup quarterback freshman Jace Rein sealed the deal with an 82-yard scoring run late in the fourth quarter.
The game was close in the early going despite the Braves scoring the first two times they had the ball. Following Hawkinson’s score, Collin Beaner ended a Florence-Henry threat when he pounced on a fumble on the B-H 18. The Braves made the Falcons pay when Person hauled in his 73-yard pass from Zuehlke on a third and four for a 12-0 lead.
F-H responded with its best drive of the night, going 71 yards, including a fourth down conversion in B-H territory, to cut the margin to 12-8 with 8:48 left in the opening half. The Falcons stopped the Braves on their next drive on the F-H 15 but gave the ball right back when Beaner recovered his second fumble. Four plays later Zuehlke scored on a two-yard run.
A three-and-out gave the Braves the ball right back and then scored again on Hawkinson’s second TC, a three-yard run for a 24-8 lead. B-H had another chance and nearly scored right before the end of the half but a completed pass to Person was ruled out of bounds with four seconds left.
The Braves quickly snuffed out any Florence-Henry thoughts of a second half comeback, forcing a quick punt and then Zuehlke and Person striking again for a 30-8 advantage. Hawkinson added his third touchdown in the final period and Rein finished off with his long scamper for the final margin.
Hawkinson had a big night running the football for the second straight week, topping his 149-yard effort of a week ago with a 187-yard effort. He also had several big gains erased by penalties. Dashel Davidson led the Braves on the defensive side of the ball with seven stops, Ty Fagerland had five and Person four.
F-H (0-2) 0 8 8 0 – 16
B-H (2-0) 12 12 6 14 – 44
BH – Bryce Hawkinson 61 run (run failed)
BH – Daniel Person 73 pass from Jaxon Zuehke (pass failed)
FH – Karter Kohlenberg 10 run (Tristyn Sumner run)
BH – Zuehlke 2 run (run failed)
BH – Hawkinson 3 run (run failed)
BH – Person 58 pass from Zuehlke (run failed)
FH – Karter Kohlenberg 44 run (Tristyn Sumner run)
BH – Hawkinson seven run (Dashel Davidson run)
BH – Jace Rein 82 run (run failed)
RUSHING: FH, 41-162 (Karter Kohlenberg 22-129); BH, 36-349 (Bryce Hawkinson 15-187, Jace Rein 4-132, Ben Suther 4-42, Dashel Davidson 3-33, Jaxon Zuehlke 4-19), Daniel Person 1-8
PASSING: FH, 6-13-1-47 (Dawson Lantgen 5-12-1-41; Kohlenberg 1-1-0-6); BH, 6-12-0-199 (Zuehlke 5-10-0-182; Rein 1-2-0-17)
RECEIVING: FH (Kohlenberg 2-29, Logan Koll 1-12, Tristyn Sumner 1-6); BH (Person 4-174, Dawson Treeby 1-17, Ty Fagerland 1-8)
FIRST DOWNS: FH, 10; BH, 15
DEFENSIVE LEADERS: FH (Tate Hartley 3 tackles); BH (Davidson 7 tackles, Fagerland 5 tackles, Person 4 tackles; Collin Beaner 2 fumble recoveries)
