The Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots entered Thursday night’s matchup against Mountain Lake Area on a five-game losing streak to the Wolverines.
Of those five losses, three of them came in the section tournament.
The first loss came in the opening round of the section tournament in 2017.
The next two came in 2018, during the regular season and the 2018 section championship.
The fourth loss came during the 2019 regular season. The fifth and most painful loss was in the 2019 section championship.
The top-ranked Patriots were able to get the proverbial monkey off their back in Hills on Nov. 12 with a 54-14 victory over MLA.
With the win, the Patriots put the finishing touches on a perfect 6-0 regular season.
Tyson Bork opened the scoring with a 30-yard rushing touchdown. Gavin Wysong converted the two-point conversion to give the Patriots an 8-0 lead.
Wysong scored his first touchdown of the game on a 61-yard rushing touchdown. Bork converted the two-point conversion to put H-BC up 16-0.
The Patriots struck again on an eight-yard rushing touchdown from Wysong. Bork once again scored on the two-point conversion to put the Patriots up 24-0.
The Patriots put the game out of reach for MLA on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Wysong to Ty Bundesen. Bork was successful on the two-point conversion attempt to put the Patriots up 32-0.
“Our offensive line played solid upfront and we were able to get our run game going early,” H-BC head coach Rex Metzger said. “Early in the second quarter they started stacking the box and we were able to hit a couple of seam routes.”
The Wolverines opened the scoring in the second half on a 54-yard touchdown pass to trim H-BC’s lead to 32-6.
Bork scored his second touchdown of the game on a 50-yard rushing touchdown. The Patriots were unable to convert the two-point conversion but still led 38-6.
The Wolverines scored through the air on a seven-yard passing touchdown to cut H-BC’s lead to 38-14 following the two-point conversion.
Wysong scored on his third rushing touchdown of the game with a 51-yard scamper. Wysong connected with Bundesen for the two-point conversion to put the Patriots up 46-14.
Bork crossed the goal line for his third rushing touchdown of the game from three yards out to put the Patriots up 52-14. The senior tailback scored on the two-point conversion to give the Patriots a 54-14 victory.
Wysong threw for 73 yards and one touchdown. The senior quarterback also rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns, as well as recording six tackles.
Bork rushed for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Bork also recorded seven tackles.
Calvin Erickson finished the game with seven tackles. Cole Baker recorded five tackles and one sack.
Zander Wysong recorded four tackles and two sacks. Tory Knobloch recorded three tackles and one sack.
“I thought our defense played well again,” Metzger said. “They went away from their run game after we were able to get up on them. We did have a couple of breakdowns in our secondary that we need to clean up this week.”
With the win, the Patriots improved to 6-0 and earned the No. 1 seed in the nine-man Section 3A tournament.
They have a first-round bye and will host the winner of the Lyle/Pacelli and Edgerton matchup at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21.
“We ended the regular season as co-district champions with Renville County West,” Metzger said. “I’m happy for our guys.”
Passing: G. Wysong 73 yards, one TD
Rushing: T. Bork 15-190-3; G. Wysong 15-161-3
Receiving: Bundesen 1-47-1
Tackles: Erickson 7; Bork 7; G. Wysong 6; Baker 5; Z. Wysong 4; Bosch 4; Leenderts 4
Sacks: Z. Wysong 2; Knobloch 1; Baker 1