Britton-Hecla will hit the road for the opening round of the Class 9AA football playoffs on Thursday.
The Braves, 5-3, will travel to Elkton to clash with Elkton-Lake Benton, 7-1, at 6 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to quarterfinal play against the Howard (71)-Ipswich (4-4) winner on Thursday, Oct. 26.
B-H boss Jacob Skogstad knows his club will face a stiff challenge in the playoff opener. The two clubs have played one common opponent in Florence-Henry. The Braves posted a 44-16 win while Elkton-Lake Benton won 540.
“Elkton-Lake Benton is a very talented and wellcoached team,” stressed Skogstad. “They have a ton of overall team speed and they play very physical. Our keys this week offensively will be ball control and ball security. We need to sustain long drives and put points on the board. Defensively, we need to tackle better and get off of blocks. Their playmakers are very skilled with the football in their hands, and one missed tackle could mean a touchdown against this team. We look forward to the challenge and expect a very physical and fun high school football game.”
The Braves wrapped up regular season play against Herreid-Selby on the Northern State University field on Friday, dropping a 46-14 decision.
“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times and it showed on the scoreboard,” said Skogstad. “Herreid-Selby is a very talented team, and when you turn the ball over four times against talented teams, you can’t expect to win those football games. Defensively, I thought we played well at times, but we need to get off the field on third and fourth and long.”
Herreid-Selby drew first blood, driving 46 yards in nine plays following the first of their three pass interceptions in the game, to go up 8-0 with 4:19 left in the opening period.
The Braves hung tough, cutting the margin to 8-6 in the opening minutes of the second period. A 43-yard pass from Jaxon Zuehlke to Ben Suther put the ball on the Wolverines 35, Bryce Hawkinson ran for 23 yards, and Graham Fosness for seven, before Jace Rein found the end zone from five yards out to cap the five-play, 82-yard drive.
But Herreid-Selby answered on its next possession, driving 75 yards in eight plays to go up 16-6. After a three-and-out, the Braves defense stiffened and stopped the Wolverines on the B-H nine, but a pick six on first down suddenly put Herreid-Selby in charge 22-6 at halftime.
The Wolverines received the second half kickoff and proceeded to drive 52 yards in nine plays and tacked up another eight points for a 306 margin. Britton-Hecla did answer with a 71-yard, seven- play drive. Hawkinson’s 51-yard scamper put the ball on the H-S 28, Zuehlke ran a couple for 17 yards and Hawkinson added another 17 on a pair of carries to set up Graham Fosnbess’ two-yard scoring run to cut the margin to 30-14.
But the Braves were not able to score again and Herreid-Selby tacked on 16 fourth quarter points on drives of 65 and 93 yards for the final margin.
Herreid-Selby won the total yardage battle 345-278. Hawkinson ran for 148 yards on 16 carries as the Braves had 201 rushing yards and 71 via the airways. Collin Beaner led the defensive effort with 14 tackles and Hawkinson added 10 stops.
H-S (7-2) 8 14 8 16 – 46 B-H (5-3) 0 6 8 0 - 14 HS – Wayde Grage 3 run (Houston Hauge run)
BH – Jace Rein 5 run (run failed) HS – Trevor Gill 18 pass from Grage (Hauge run)
HS – Hauge 18 interception return (run failed)
HS – Hauge 18 run (run good) BH – Graham Fosness 2 run (Daniel Person pass from Jaxon Zuehlke)
HS – Cole Zabel 13 pass from Grage (Zabel pass from Grage)
HS – Mason Vetter 25 run (run good)
RUSHING: HS, 50-244 (Houston Hauge 22-124, Mason Vetter 9-68, Porter Gregg 10-26); BH, 32-201 (Bryce Hawkinson 16-148, Jace Rein 5-24, Jaxon Zuehlke 6-19, Daniel Person 1-6, Graham Fosness 3-4)
PASSING : HS, 8-10-0-101 (Wayde Grage 8-10-0-101); BH, 2-11-3-71 (Zuehlke 2-11-3-71)
RECEIVING : HS (Cole Zabel 239, Trevor Gill 1-18, Ethan Thompson 1-17); BH (Ben Suther 1-43, Rein 1-28)
FIRST DOWNS : HS, 20; BH 13
DEFENSIVE LEADERS : HS (Grage 4 tackles, pass interception; Greg 3 tackles, pass interception); BH (Collin Beaner 14 tackles; Hawkinson 10 tackles; Zuehlke 7 tackles; Dashel Davidson 5 tackles; Benjamin Folkman 5 tackles)
