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The Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots took their undefeated football team on the road to Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Friday to take on the Chargers. The visitors came away with a 43-8 win, keeping their win streak intact.
Going back to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Patriots have reeled off 11 wins in a row.
Although they put up 48 points on the host Chargers, H-BC head coach Rex Metzger noted that his team wasn’t quite where they should have been.
“Offensively we just didn’t get in a real good flow all night,” he said.
Penalties thwarted a couple of first half drives, but the Patriots squad fought through and registered their fourth win of the season.
After a WWG three and out to open the game, the Patriots were able to put together a six play, 58-yard drive for a touchdown on their first possession.
The Pates overcame two penalties during that first drive and eventually managed to hit paydirt. Senior Cole Baker took the football in from 10 yards out for his first of four touchdowns on the night. He also ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.
The stingy Patriots defense forced three punts and one interception by Andrew Harris during the first stanza alone.
“We were able to put pressure on their (WWG) quarterback and slow down their passing attack,” coach Metzger said about his Patriots’ defense.
On the other side of the ball, a total of five penalties by the Patriots’ offense kept them from scoring again during the quarter and the score stayed 8-0 at the end of the first quarter of play.
The second quarter saw more of the same by the H-BC defense, as they forced three more WWG punts.
The H-BC offense found their groove and the endzone three times during the second quarter. Cole Baker accounted for two of those scores. Baker scored touchdowns on runs of 5 and 8 yards.
Oliver Deelstra scored the third touchdown of the quarter on a nine-yard scamper on fourth and goal from the four-yard line.
A Deelstra- to-Drew Leenderts pass gave the Patriots two points after the first touchdown registered in the quarter. The run failed after the second touchdown.
However, after the third H-BC touchdown in the second quarter, Ty Bundesen split the uprights on his extra-point kick for the 21st point of the quarter to end the first half with a 29-0 score.
During the third quarter, the Patriots bumped the lead to 35-0 with a 56-yard sprint by Cole Baker for his fourth touchdown of the evening.
Also in the third, the Chargers managed to put together an eight play, 80-yard drive, culminating in an 11-yard touchdown run. A completed pass for the successful 2-point conversion moved the score to 35-8.
The only score in the final period came on a Luke Fuerstenberg run from seven yards out. Justin Roelfs ran in the 2-point conversion to cap the Patriots’ score at 43.
With the final score of 43-8, the Patriots move their record to 4-0 and dropped the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers to 2-2.
“I thought our defense played a great game,” Metzger said while complimenting the entire team.
The H-BC Patriots put their undefeated record to the test on Friday night versus the 2-2 Renville County West Jaguars in Hills. Game time is 7 p.m.
Team statistics
HBC: 289 rushing yards, 72 passing yards, 361 total yards, 11 first downs, nine penalties for 42 yards, one turnover.
WWG: 59 rushing yards, 55 passing yards, 114 total yards, four first downs, five penalties for 32 yards, two turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Baker 14-150, Deelstra 9-49, Fuerstenberg 3-28, Brock Harnack 1-16, Bundesen 2-16, Sawyer Bosch 5-12, Roelfs 3-11, Drew Leenderts 2-8, Cameron Allen 1-minus 1.
Passing: Deelstra 8-16 for 72 yards, Sawyer Bosch 0-1, Bundesen 0-1.
Receiving: Bundesen 4 for 34, Andrew Harris 1 for 17, Drew Leenderts 2 for 13, Baker 1 for 8.
Defense: Brock Harnack four tackles, Casey Kueter four tackles, Max Scholten three tackles, Austin Allen three tackles, Donavan Leenderts three tackles and two caused fumbles, Deelstra two pass deflections and one interception, Andrew Harris two tackles and one pass deflection and one interception.