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The Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots and the Mountain Lake Area Wolverines have met the last four years in the Section 3 Nine-Man Section Championship.
This year the Patriots claimed the section championship with a score of 36-9 in Marshall Friday, Nov. 5.
The Patriot defensive line play of senior Max Scholten and junior Cody Moser along with senior linebacker Casey Kueter kept the MLA Wolverine offense stymied almost the entire game.
The No. 1-seeded Wolverines received the opening kickoff, but the Patriot defense soon set the tone for the rest of the contest, allowing MLA very little success running between their offensive ends.
An early punt by MLA gave the ball to the Patriots at their own 40-yard line. The windy and cold conditions led to two H-BC mishandled center snaps during that first Patriot possession.
Then a fake punt run by the Patriots ended up one yard short of a midfield first down.
On MLA’s next possession, they turned the ball over on downs to the Patriots at their own 46-yard line. After a key third-down and long pass from Oliver Deelstra to Drew Leenderts resulting in a 21-yard gain, Cole Baker scored from the eight-yard line with 4:17 left in the first quarter. Baker ran in the two-point conversion and the Patriots were up 8-0.
After forcing a Wolverine punt, the Patriots offensive march was stopped on a fourth and 15 short of the goal line. That defensive stop by the Wolverines kick-started their offense as they scored on a 23-yard pass play with 4:16 left in the half. The score stood at 8-6 in favor of the No. 2-seeded Patriots.
After receiving the kick-off, H-BC was forced into another fourth down which saw punter Ty Bundesen try to run for the first down, but was short by one yard.
The Wolverines took over the ball with just 1:44 left in the half. Three plays later and just 10 seconds left on the clock, Mountain Lake boomed a 39-yard field goal to take a 9-8 halftime lead.
The second half was all Hills-Beaver Creek. On the second play from scrimmage, Oliver Deelstra faked a hand-off to Baker, and Deelstra then went over the left side on a keeper for a 51-yard touchdown run. Bundesen ran in the two-point conversion and the Patriots extended their lead to 16-9 with 11:05 left in the third quarter.
The next MLA possession saw them facing a fourth and six at midfield. Before the snap, the Patriot coaches were yelling to the H-BC punt return team to watch the fullback for a fake.
As expected, the MLA snap went directly to the fullback who gained three of the needed six yards. First down Patriots.
After the fourth down stop, H-BC gained 52 yards in eight plays and scored on a one-yard run by Baker, who tacked on the two-point conversion with a successful run and widened the lead to 24-9.
During the scoring drive, on a critical fourth and four from the 16, Kueter, the intended receiver, was pushed before he had a chance to catch the ball. The pass interference penalty resulted in a crucial first down for the Patriots.
The MLA offense had trouble with the H-BC defensive line the entire game. The next MLA drive saw a combined sack by Baker and Kueter, who each went on to knock down passes on the next two plays, forcing a fourth down.
After a Wolverine 77-yard punt, the Patriots started out at their own three-yard line. The Wolverine defense held and forced a Patriot punt that was returned to the 17-yard line.
However, two plays later, with 53 seconds left in the third quarter, the Patriots fell on a Wolverine fumble and stopped the last real scoring threat for MLA.
The fourth quarter saw two more H-BC touchdowns. After an 85-yard Bundesen punt, the Wolverines started out at their own 20-yard line, and the Patriot defense stepped up again.
A Wolverine long snap sailed over their head and gave the Patriots the ball at the 11-yard line.
Baker ran it in on the next play and pushed the score to 30-9. H-BC would tack on another score with a four-yard run by Deelstra with 3:38 left to play. The extra point kick was blocked and the score was final at 36-9.
H-BC head coach Rex Metzger said he was proud of how physical his Patriots played.
“We were able to get after them and put them in a position they weren’t used to being in,” Metzger said.
“I thought we made some big plays when we needed to in the third quarter. Mountain Lake is a real solid team, and for us to get the lead early coming out of halftime was big.”
The 2021 football season is the second time in two years the Patriots are Section 3 Nine-Man Champions.
This year the Patriots will play in the state quarter-finals. Last season’s football state tournament was not played because of Covid concerns.
The 9-2 Patriots will look to avenge an early season loss as they take on the 8-3 Renville County West Jaguars from Section 2.
The quarter final game will be Friday, Nov. 12, at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Individual statistics
Rushing: O. Deelstra 11-107, C. Baker 26-102, T. Bundesen 3-8
Passing: O. Deelstra 6-7 for 57 yrads.
Receiving: Drew Leenderts 1-20 yards, C. Baker 3-18 yards, T. Bundesen 1-14 yards, C. Kueter 1-5 yards.
Defense: C. Kueter 7 tackles, Max Scholten 5 tackles, Austin Allen 4.5 tackles, C. Baker 4 tackles, Drew Leenderts 4 tackles, Donavon Leenderts 3.5 tackles.