The Barnesville Trojans once again proved why they are ranked #1 in the state, as they cruised to a dominant 74-6 victory over the Crookston Pirates in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs.
1st Quarter –
Barnesville received the opening kickoff, and two plays into the drive, Asher O’Brien scored a 32-yard touchdown. Gannon Bolgreen ran in the two-point conversion to give the Trojans an 8-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Antonio Romero returned it into Barnesville territory. On the next play, Crookston fumbled, and Barnesville recovered it.
The Trojans stayed on the ground, giving Cameron Halverson a carry for 35 yards. Three plays later, on third and one, O’Brien got a carry for 11 yards and a touchdown. Bolgreen ran in the two-point conversion, and Barnesville took a 16-0 lead.
Crookston got the ball and went three and out and had to punt. Barnesville took over, and Ethan Larson got a carry for 40 yards and a touchdown, giving the Trojans a 22-0 lead. Crookston got the ball and went three and out. On the ensuing punt, Larson returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. Larson also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Trojans a 30-0 lead.
Crookston got the ball back and started to use some trickery on offense. The Pirates had most of their linemen line up outside, and Romero completed two straight passes to Hamre and Lubinski to 27 yards. On the next play, the Pirates fumbled, and Collin Morey recovered it.
The Trojans went to the air after the recovery, and Zach Bredman completed two straight passes, one to Peyton Amundson for nine yards and the other to Gannon Bolgreen for a 48-yard touchdown. Bredman ran the two-point conversion in, and Barnesville took a 38-0 lead.
Crookston got the ball back, and after a false start, Romero completed a pass to Carter Coauette for 13 yards. Romero ran it on second down for three yards and a first down. Two plays later, Larson intercepted a pass and returned it for 53 yards and a touchdown. Bredman ran in the two-point conversion, and the Trojans took a 46-0 lead. Crookston went three and out to end the first quarter.
2nd Quarter –
Barnesville had the ball to start the quarter and gave a carry to Bolgreen for 27 yards. On the next play, Larson carried it for 5 yards and a touchdown. Halverson ran the two-point conversion, and Barnesville furthered their lead to 54-0.
Crookston got the ball, and two plays into the drive, Coauette got a huge carry for 47 yards. The Pirates could not gain yards on the following four plays and turned it over on downs. Barnesville got the ball back, and after an incompletion, David Spillum got a carry for 18 yards. Two plays later, Larson got a carry and took 70 yards for a touchdown. Bredman ran in the two-point conversion, and Barnesville took a 62-0 lead.
Crookston got the ball a first down off of a face mask penalty. Romero got two carries for five yards, but an incompletion on third down forced a Crookston punt. Barnesville took over, and Avery Schroeder took a carry 48 yards to the house, giving Barnesville a 68-0 lead.
Crookston got the ball back and went three and out. Barnesville took over, ran out the rest of the time in the second quarter, and went into halftime with a 68-0 lead.
3rd Quarter –
The third quarter was changed to eight minutes. Crookston received the second-half kickoff and went three and out. Barnesville took over and gave a carry to Dovante Russell, and he gained 22 yards. On the next play, Noah Stanford took a carry 23 yards for a touchdown, giving the Trojans a 74-0 lead.
Crookston got the ball back and went three and out. Barnesville took over, and David Spillum got a carry for 10 yards. Romero got a sack two plays later that put the Trojans behind the chains. Two plays later, Tate Hamre made the tackle for loss to force the turnover on downs. Crookston ended the half with carries from Romero and Miles Moore for 5 yards each.
4th Quarter –
The fourth quarter returned to 12 minutes, but it was running time. Romero got an 11-yard carry to give the Pirates a first down. Crookston could not get much on the following three plays and had to punt. Barnesville took over and gave a carry to Dovonte Russell for 15 yards. On the next play, Brayden Pederson recovered a Barnesville fumble to give it back to the Pirates.
Romero got three straight carries and gained 14 yards. Lubinski had a carry for four yards, and two plays later, Romero hit Lubinski for a 12-yard gain. On the next play, Romero completed a pass to Rylan Lubarski, who took it in for a 15-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 74-6. Barnesville got the ball back and ran two plays to run out the rest of the clock and give the Trojans the 74-6 victory.
Crookston finishes their season at 0-9. Barnesville improves to 9-0 and advances to the Section 8AA semi-finals.
TO LISTEN TO COACH NATE LUBARSKI’S POST-GAME COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Crookston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Barnesville | 46 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 74 |
SCORING
1st Quarter –
11:21 – Barn – Asher O’Brien 32-yard run (Gannon Bolgreen run)
9:25 – Barn – Asher O’Brien 11-yard run (Gannon Bolgreen run)
6:54 – Barn – Ethan Larson 40-yard run (pass failed)
5:35 – Barn – Ethan Larson 55-yard punt return (Larson run)
3:46 – Barn – Zach Bredman 48 yard pass to Gannon Bolgreen (Bredman run)
2:07 – Barn – Ethan Larson 53-yard interception return (Bredman run)
2nd Quarter –
11:25 – Barn – Ethan Larson 5-yard run (Cameron Halverson run)
8:02 – Barn – Ethan Larson 70-yard run (Bredman run)
4:06 – Barn – Avery Schroeder 48-yard run (kick failed)
3rd Quarter –
5:27 – Barn – Noah Sranford 23-yard run (run failed)
4th Quarter –
2:00 – Crox – Antonio Romero 15-yard pass to Rylan Lubarski (run failed)
| TEAM STATS | CROOKSTON | Barnesville |
| Rushing Yards | 67 | 362 |
| Passing Yards | 82 | 57 |
| Total Yards | 149 | 419 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 1-1 |
| First Downs | 10 | 15 |
| Penalties-Yards | 2-20 | 2-20 |
| Punts | 6-151 | 0-0 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
| CROOKSTON | Barnesville | |
| Rushing | Rushing | |
| Antonio Romero 18-29 | Ethan Larson 3-51 | |
| Myles Moore 6-1 | Dovonte Russel 3-51 | |
| Carter Coauette 5-33 | Asher O’Brien 3-49 | |
| Teagen Lubinski 1-4 | Avery Schroeder 2-53 | |
| David Spillum 2-28 | ||
| Nathaniel Huesman 2-21 | ||
| Elias Cox 2-2 | ||
| Cameron Halverson 1-35 | ||
| Gannon Bolgreen 1-27 | ||
| Noah Stanford 1-23 | ||
| Peyton Amundson 1-19 | ||
| Jacob Strand 1-6 | ||
| Zach Bredman 1-3 | ||
| Connor Klemin 1-(-6) | ||
| Passing |
Passing |
|
| Antonio Romero 6-11-1 73 yards | Zach Bredman 2-3-0 57 yards | |
| Carter Coauette 1-3-0 9 yards | ||
| Receiving | Receiving | |
| Teagen Lubinski 4-39 | Gannon Bolgreen 1-48 | |
| Rylan Lubarski 1-15 | Peyton Amundson 1-9 | |
| Tate Hamre 1-15 | ||
| Carter Coauette 1-13 |
