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Friday night’s matchup between Hills-Beaver Creek and Mountain Lake Area pitted two top teams in nine-man Section 3 football against each other.
Friday night ended with an MLA victory over H-BC by a score of 24-6. The game came down to a few big plays that the home field Wolverines took advantage of over the visiting Patriots.
On the game’s opening Wolverines possession, the Patriots defense started off with a quick three and out, highlighted by a Casey Kueter sack of the MLA quarterback on a third and 14 yards to go.
The H-BC offense took the field and quickly moved into Wolverine territory.
The Patriots connected for a 13-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back because of a holding penalty. On the next play, a fourth down and goal from the 13-yard line, an Oliver Deelstra pass was incomplete and the score remained 0-0.
Mountain Lake Area struck back on the next possession and took a 6-0 lead on a nine-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down with four yards to go.
A late first quarter interception by an MLA defender at the Patriots 27-yard line resulted in a second quarter Wolverines touchdown.
The Wolverines extended their lead to 12-0 on a five-yard run. The MLA two-point conversion pass was incomplete.
The Patriots offense then put together a 13-play, 65-yard drive with three first downs. A 20-yard run by Cole Baker tightened the score to 12-6 in favor of MLA. During the scoring drive, Deelstra completed passes to Baker and Ty Bundesen.
To start the second half, the Patriots received the kick-off. The Patriots offense controlled the ball for 10 plays and advanced the ball to the Wolverines 8-yard line. However, a holding penalty set them back to the 18-yard line. An MLA defender intercepted a pass and returned the ball 80 yards for a touchdown to widen the MLA lead to 18-6. The two-point conversion run failed.
In the fourth quarter, the Wolverines scored on the very first play with a two-yard blast up the middle. Although the two-point conversion run was short, the score stood in favor of the Wolverines 24-6.
Both Patriot offensive drives in the fourth quarter resulted in a turnover on downs inside Wolverine territory, with one turnover ending at the Wolverines’ 12-yard line.
“We knew it was going to be another physical game,” head coach Rex Metzger said.
“I thought our defense played well overall. Offensively we made a few mistakes, and they were able to take away a few things we were trying to do, and against a team like that, it’s tough to recover.”
On Thursday, Oct. 14, the 4-2 Patriots look to stop their two-game skid when they take on the 3-3 Red Rock Central Falcons in Hills. Game time is 7 p.m.
Team statistics
HBC: 115 rushing yards, 104 passing yards, 219 total yards, 11 first downs, 4 penalties for 45 yards, three turnovers.
MLA: 112 rushing yards, 62 passing yards, 174 total yards, 6 first downs, four penalties for 20 yards, one turnover.
Individual statistics:
Rushing: C. Baker 23-106 yards, O. Deelstra 8-8 yards, Ty Bundesen 1-2 yards, Sawyer Bosch 1-0 yards, Drew Leenderts 1 -minus 1 yard.
Passing: Deelstra 10-22 for 104 yards.
Defense: Donovan Leenderts six tackles, C. Baker five tackles, Austin Allen five tackles, Max Scholten five tackles, Andrew Harris three tackles and one fumble recovery.