Crookston Pirate Football beat up by #1 Barnesville

The #1 ranked Barnesville Trojans scored early and often and coasted to a 78-0 victory over the Crookston Pirate Football team to spoil homecoming at KROX Radio Stadium in Crookston.

1st Quarter–
Crookston started the game on offense, but a mishandling of the opening kickoff resulted in the Pirates starting inside their own 20. The Pirates went three and out, and had to punt from their own endzone. Barnesville’s Jack Maesse took advantage and blocked the punt, and Nicholas Robideau fell on the ball for the Trojans’ first score of the game, with the 2-point try added on by running back Major Ness just three minutes into the game. Crookston’s next possession would end in another three and out, and Barnesville answered with a 31-yard passing touchdown from quarterback Gannon Bolgrean to Ness. The 2-point attempt from lineman turned fullback Nicholas Robideau extended the lead to 16-0 for Barnesville. The Trojans defense forced another Crookston punt and scored on another one-play touchdown drive with 4:34 to go in the quarter. Bolgrean connected with Izaiah Zajac from 50 yards out, and Robideau would run in another two-point conversion to make the lead 24-0 for Barnesville. Crookston’s fourth possession was shortened, as Pirates quarterback Teagan Lubinksi was intercepted just seconds later by Major Ness. The turnover and ensuing return set up Barnesville with another short field, and Robodeaux was able to score from eight yards away. The two-point conversion run by Bolgrean would make it 32-0 in favor of the Trojans. Crookston’s final possession of the quarter was a short punt that rolled out of bounds at the Pirate 16, which put Barnesville in great field position once again. The quarter would end with Barnesville facing 1st and goal from the two.

2nd Quarter –
Barnesville quickly punched in a touchdown to start the quarter, as Robideau took an outside handoff across the goal line. He would then catch the two-pointer to extend the lead to 40-0. Crookston’s next drive on offense would be their best of the game, as they overcame penalties and picked up a first down on a scramble-drill catch from Lukas Perala. Lubinksi scrambled for 17 yards and another first down in Barnesville territory, but a penalty shortened the gain. Crookston would ultimately turn it over on downs, after a fake punt pass from Parker Kelly on 4th and 17 was two yards short of the marker. Barnesville came back with another one-play drive – a 62-yard touchdown toss from Bolgrean to a wide-open Major Ness with 7:55 to go in the half. Brenden Thorklidson caught the 2-point pass as Bolgrean evaded the Pirate blitz on the point after. Crookston’s offense would stall on the next drive, as a toss from Lubinski on third down was behind Rylan Lubarski. Lubinski fell on the ball inside the 10, and the Pirate punt on the next play set up Barnesville with the ball on the Pirate 27. One play later, Bolgrean opted to take the ball into the endzone himself, as he was left a clear path to paydirt. Robideau would bring home another 2-point conversion on an outside run to put the score at 54-0. Barnesville’s last possession of the half was finished with another score, this time on a 60-yard touchdown sprint from running back Jacob Strand. Elias Cox tacked on the two-point try to put Barnesville up 64-0 with 2:21 to go in the quarter. Crookston ran the clock out on their last drive to end the half.

3rd Quarter –
At halftime, it was announced that the third quarter would be shortened to 8 minutes due to the nature of the score. Barnesville started the shortened quarter with the ball on their own 35, and the first play from scrimmage was a 75-yard touchdown run from Strand. Barnesville began to rotate some new backs in at this point, as the two-point try was run in by Brayden Dunham to extend the lead to 72-0. Crookston’s first drive of the half went three and out with a short, potentially tipped punt to cap it off. Barnesville’s reserves entered the game on offense, and Brayden Dunham found the space to break off a 15-yard touchdown run with 5:50 left in the quarter. The snap on the two-point try was bobbled and fallen on by the Trojans, which kept the score at 78-0. After another empty Pirate possession, Barnesville’s Elias Cox broke off a big run to end the quarter but slid down before he could get to the endzone.

4th Quarter –
Despite starting the quarter in a goal-to-go situation, Barnesville opted to take four knees to keep the clock running.. Crookston’s possession on offense following the turnover on downs saw the reserves come into the game, and they were turned over on downs. The backups would turn to conservative plays in an effort to keep the clock moving and escape the game healthy.

Crookston drops to 0-7 on the year and will host Hawley on Wednesday in the final game of the regular season. Barnesville improves to 7-0. The two teams will meet in the first round of the Section 8AA playoffs on Tuesday, October 22 at Barnesville.

Click below to listen to Coach Nate Lubarski’s comments-

SCORING-
1st Quarter –
9:11 – Barnesville – Nicholas Robideau punt block recovery in end zone (Major Ness run)
6:13 – Barnesville – Gannon Bolgrean 31 yard pass to Major Ness (Nicholas Robideau run)
4:25 – Barnesville – Gannon Bolgrean 50 yard pass to Isaiah Zajac (Nicholas Robideau run)
3:22 – Barnesville – Nicholas Robideau 8 yard run (Gannon Bolgrean run)

2nd Quarter –
11:55 – Barnesville – Nicholas Robideau 2 yard run (Gannon Bolgrean pass to Nicholas Robideau)
7:55 – Barnesville – Gannon Bolgrean 62 yard pass to Major Ness (Gannon Bolgrean pass to Brenden Thorklidson)
4:59 – Barnesville – Gannon Bolgrean 27 yard run (Nicholas Robideau run)
2:21 – Barnesville – Jacob Strand 60 yard run (Elias Cox run)

3rd Quarter –
7:47 – Barnesville – Jacob Strand 75 yard run (Brayden Dunham run)
5:50 – Barnesville – Brayden Dunham 15 yard tun (run failed)

4th Quarter –
No scoring

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Parker Kelly

Lucas Perala

Zach Ali

Rylan Lubarski

Teagen Lubinski

Mason Reitmeier