Braves Win Big To Even Season Record At 2-2

    Lightning was about the only thing that stopped the Britton-Hecla football team in its 58-6 win over Florence-Henry on Friday as sophomore quarterback Jace Rein passed for six touchdowns, ran for another, passed for a pair of two-point conversions, and ran for a third
    The Braves improved to 2-2 while Florence-Henry fell to 0-3.  Britton-Hecla has a bye this week and travels to Watertown to meet Great Plains Lutheran on Sept. 27.
    “I thought we played a good team football game on Friday night,” said B-H boss Jacob Skogstadd.  “Offensively, we came out a little flat and penalties/mental mistakes kind of stopped us at times. But, our defense picked up the slack in the first quarter, and then to put up 30 points in the second quarter is a total team effort. I am very proud of the way our team responded to adversity and played together.”
    That adversity hit the Braves on their first possession when they lost a fumble on their own 40.  Florence-Henry picked up a quick first down to the 25 but thanks to tackles for losses by Graham Fosness and Ben Suther the visitors went backwards and B-H took over on their own 27.
    Bryce Hawkinson, who ran for 126 yards in the contest, picked up a third and five and then on a third and 15 grabbed a pass from Rein that went 49 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead for B-H after one quarter.
    The Braves totally dominated the second period with its 30-point outburst, taking advantage of three Florence-Henry turnovers, to go up 36-0 at intermission.
    Rein scored on a five-yard jaunt at the 9:16 mark, and after Fosness recovered a fumble Hawkinson scored a minute later on a 50-yard scamper.  Dashel Davidson ran the conversion and suddenly it was 20-0.
    Daniel Person intercepted a pass on the next F-H possession and this time Rein connected with Jaxon Zuehlke from 18 yards out and then hit him again for the conversion and a 28-0 lead with 4:15 still remaining in the half.
    Bryce Heitkamp got the ball back for the Braves again when he pounced on a fumble.  Three plays later Rein found Person with a 36-yard TD pass and Rein added the conversion for a 36-0 halftime margin.
    About the only thing that stopped the Braves was Mother Nature.  The game was halted for about 30 minutes early in the third period due to lightning.  But then B-H picked up where it left off.  Hawkinson rambled 78 yards on first down for a score that was called back on a penalty, but six plays later Rein found Jordyn McGregor with a three-yard TD pass and Davidson ran the conversion for a 42-0 margin.
    Florence-Henry’s only score of the game came on the ensuing kickoff when Carson Vavruska returned the boot 81 yards for six and the Braves led 44-6 after three quarters.  
    The Braves answered quickly, scoring on a 35-yard pass from Rein to Person at the 11:01 mark of the final stanza with Person catching a Rein pass for the conversion and a 44-0 lead.  Then, after stopping a fourth and seven, the Rein-Person connection found paydirt again, this time from 20 yards out, to end the game on the 50-point rule with three minutes to play.
    “Offensively, I think we found a balance that we will be working towards keeping throughout the rest of the year, and defensively, I think we tackled a lot better than we had in the first three games,” said Skogstad.  “During the bye week, we will just be working on solidifying what we are good at and making those areas as strong as they can be for the final stretch.”
    Statistics showed that balance as the Braves ran for 271 yards and passed for 236 for a 507 total, while limiting Florence-Henry to 58 yards on the ground and just three via the airways for a 61 total.  Person was targeted six times and pulled in five passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns, a 26.4 yards per pass average.