By John Rittenhouse
Adrian’s two-game football losing streak came to an end with a 42-6 homecoming rout of Minneota Friday.
After slipping to .500 for the season with a pair of road losses, the Dragons returned to their winning ways by playing an outstanding game on both sides of the ball against the Vikings.
Adrian’s offense produced a season-high 441 total yards, 384 of which came on the ground.
The Dragon defense limited Minneota to 186 yards and four first downs in the contest while taking the ball away from the Vikings two times.
"Our offense did a very good job," said Dragon coach Randy Strand. "We scored touchdowns with seven of our nine possessions. We were clicking on offense. Our defense did a good job, too. We gave up two big pass plays of 62 and 45 yards. Take those two plays away, and they had 79 yards of offense."
Adrian took control of the game by scoring with its first three offensive possessions and opening a 22-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Dragons received the opening kick and marched 61 yards in 10 plays for a 6-0 lead. Tyler Bullerman, who carried the ball 24 times for 129 yards in the contest, capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge at the 7:23 mark of the period. A missed extra-point attempt followed.
A 21-yard punt return by Bullerman gave the Dragons excellent field position on the Viking 37 to start their second possession.
Three plays later, quarterback Mark Kroon raced 36 yards for a touchdown and Bullerman carried in the conversion to make it a 14-0 game at the 5:36 mark of the stanza.
A poor punt by Minneota gave the Dragon offense the ball on the Vikings’ 34 as the first period progressed.
Adrian covered the remaining yardage in five plays with Jared Henriksen scoring on a nine-yard run with 2:59 left in the period. Bullerman’s second conversion run made it a 22-0 game.
Minneota tried getting back into the game by moving the ball to the Adrian one-yard line before turning it over with a fumble that was recovered by Dragon Brian Wagner to thwart the scoring threat.
Adrian then advanced the ball 93 yards before having a touchdown pass negated by a clipping penalty. The Dragons ended up giving up the ball on downs.
The Dragons did get into the end zone moments later after Nick Voss blocked a Minneota punt and Brad Lonneman picked up the ball and carried it to the Vikings’ seven.
On second down, Seth Bullerman scored on a three-yard run. A missed extra-point attempt left the Dragons with a 28-0 lead at 2:28 left to play in the first half.
Minneota recorded its lone touchdown with 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
A seven-play, 73-yard drive ended by Wade Gillund tossing a four-yard touchdown pass to Josh Moe. A missed extra-point attempt followed.
The Dragons iced the game with a pair of long scoring drives in the second half.
After forcing Minneota to punt three plays into the third quarter, Adrian went on a seven-play, 73-yard drive that ended with Tyler Bullerman scoring on an 11-yard scamper. Matt Loosbrock’s extra point made the difference 35-6 at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter.
Adrian marched 61 yards in eight plays in the fourth quarter. Kroon found the end zone on a one-yard quarterback sneak before Loosbrock capped the scoring with an extra point.
Strand was pleased with his team’s performance while snapping its losing skid, but he wasn’t ready to say Adrian has turned things around with one victory.
"We’ll find out when we play in Slayton Friday. Murray County Central is 3-1 in the conference like us. They are a very big team," he said.
Game time is 7 p.m. in Slayton.
Team statistics
Adrian: 384 rushing yards, 57 passing yards, 441 total yards, 21 first downs, four penalties for 45 yards, zero turnovers.
Minneota: 45 rushing yards, 141 passing yards, 186 total yards, four first downs, four penalties for 35 yards, two turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: T.Bullerman 24-129, Henriksen 10-71, S.Bullerman 7-38, Kroon 9-85, Levi Bullerman 4-13, Nate Bullerman 8-36, Kyle Dorn 1-5, Dusty Henning 2-3, Jason Say 1-4.
Passing: Kroon 5-9 for 57 yards, L.Bullerman 0-1 for zero yards.
Receiving: Lonneman 3-36, S.Bullerman 2-21.
Defense: Wagner six tackles and one fumble recovery, N.Bullerman six tackles, Dusty Spieker one fumble recovery, Voss one blocked punt.