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In the inaugural Red Rock Trophy football game between Hills-Beaver Creek and Edgerton Wednesday night, the Patriots came away with a 38-28 victory.
In a very physical game, the Patriots earned the No. 2 seed in the Section 3 9-man football playoffs, and H-BC was the first school to claim possession of the traveling Red Rock Trophy.
On the opening possession of the game, the Patriots were forced to punt the ball away.
Just five plays into the Dutchmen’s offensive possession, Patriot senior linebacker Brayden Metzger recovered an Edgerton fumble, the first of six Dutchmen turnovers in the game.
“We won the turnover battle which was the difference in the game,” said Patriots head coach Rex Metzger.
It only took five plays for the Patriots to cover 30 yards leading to their first score, a 5-yard burst by Beau Bakken with 6:16 left in the first quarter.
After exchanging punts, the Dutchmen scored on a nine-play drive, knotting the score at 6, with 11:54 left in the first half.
Following a Patriot punt, the Dutchmen put together another long drive, but it fizzled at the HBC 30-yard line.
The Patriots went on offense, but the Dutchmen’s defense held again, and the Patriots were not able to capitalize on that offensive opportunity.
Edgerton went on a 41-yard drive to score a touchdown and the 2-point conversion to take a 14-6 lead with only 36 seconds left in the half.
But the half was not over for the Patriots. Patriot kick returner Blake Leenderts was able to return the Dutchmen kickoff to the 47-yard line. From there the Patriot offense took over. A pass from Jamin Metzger to Sawyer Bosch netted 14 yards to the Edgerton 39-yard line. On the second play, another pass from Metzger to Bosch advanced the ball 16 yards to the Edgerton 23-yard line with only 20 seconds left in the half. On first and 10, Edgerton was flagged for a pass interference call which brought the ball to the 11-yard line with just 3 seconds left in the second quarter. With time for one play, Jamin Metzger moved to his right, threw back to the middle of the field and into the end zone to wide receiver Brock Harnack for a touchdown.
With the game clock showing 00:00, the Patriots were given one untimed down for the two-point conversion attempt. After two Patriot timeouts, Sawyer Bosch smashed into the end zone, tying the game at 14-14 at the half.
The second half kickoff by the Patriots turned into another Edgerton turnover. Jamin Metzger’s hard tackle caused an Edgerton fumble on the kick return, and Mason Shaffner pounced on the loose ball for the Patriots.
Although H-BC did not score on that possession, the Patriots were able to keep the ball away from the dangerous Dutchmen’s offense.
The only score in the third quarter belonged to the home team Patriots. Running back Beau Bakken took the ball over the goal line from 12 yards out and put the Patriots up 20-14. Bakken’s successful 2-point conversion made the score 22-14 with 1:34 left in the third quarter.
After cornerback Sawyer Bosch’s interception of an Edgerton pass, the Patriots marched down the field on a nine-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a Bakken 3-yard run. The Sawyer Bosch to Riley Tatge 2-point conversion pass put the Patriots up 30-14 with 8:42 left in the game.
Edgerton did not quit, and their next score took only one play of 65 yards and took 19 seconds off the clock. The Dutchmen narrowed the Patriots’ lead to only eight.
However, the Patriots answered with a 12-play drive covering 62 yards to extend the lead back to 16 for the Patriots. Beau Bakken scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 2:10 remaining. Edgerton added a late touchdown with only 2 seconds on the game clock to make the final score 38-28.
Patriots coach Rex Metzger said, “Our guys stepped up in the second half and played physical on both sides of the ball.” He said he was proud of the effort the guys gave all night against a very good Edgerton team.
The Patriots finish the regular season with a 6-2 record. They are scheduled to face seventh-seed Madelia Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Hills. Coverage of that game will be in next week’s edition of the Star Herald.
Team statistics:
HBC-146 rushing yards, 182 passing yards, 328 total yards, 21 first downs, four penalties for 35 yards, zero turnovers.
Edgerton-230 rushing yards, 99 passing yards, 329 total yards, 20 first downs, two penalties for 20 yards, six turnovers.
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Beau Bakken 21-78, Sawyer Bosch 15-65, Jamin Metzger 2-3, James VandenBosch 2-0.
Passing: Jamin Metzger 10-15 for 115 yards, one touchdown. Sawyer Bosch 3-5 for 67 yards.
Receiving: Sawyer Bosch 6-68, Luke Feurstenberg 2-45, Riley Tatge 3-38,
Beau Bakken 1-20, Brock Harnack 1-11 for one touchdown.
Defense tackles: Beau Bakken 8, Sawyer Bosch 5.5, Brock Harnack 4.5, Brayden Metzger 4.5, 1 TFL, Riley Tatge 4.5, 1 TFL, Micah Bush 3, Cody Moser 3, Luke Fuerstenberg 3.