The Fertile-Beltrami Falcon Football team showcased dominance on both sides of the ball on Friday night, capitalizing on four turnovers and big plays to defeat the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies by a score of 52-22 at Fertile-Beltrami High School.
1st Quarter
The Falcons received the ball to start the game, and immediately got off to a terrific start backed by an 18-yard run by Jonah Harsted. After a Bryer Strem carry, Isaiah Wright began his takeover of the contest, scoring a 22-yard touchdown to get Fertile-Beltrami on the board. Immediately following that drive, on the second play of the ensuing Pony drive, Kaden Pierce lost a fumble, as it was recovered by Caleb Stoltman. The Falcons decided to strike immediately, as Easton Petry fired a 37-yard touchdown pass to Bryer Strem, making it 14-0. The Ponies did their best to try to respond, but after two plays, on a 3rd and 7, a tip drill interception by Keyton Wang gave the ball right back to the Falcons. Just like after the last turnover, Fertile-Beltrami struck quickly, this time with a 31-yard rushing TD by Strem. The Ponies finally got a drive together, and scored on a 77-yard drive capped off by a 2-yard Pierce rushing TD, making it 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.
2nd Quarter
The Falcons got possession of the ball at the end of the first quarter, and carried that possession into the second quarter. As was the theme, this drive included more big plays, started with a 33-yard Isaiah Wright catch. The Falcons were able to cash in once again, as they gave it to big Jonah Harsted from 1 yard out to increase the lead to 30-8. The Ponies got the ball back, but were unable to do anything with it as the Falcons held them to a three-and-out. Even more big plays were on the horizon for Fertile-Beltrami, as on their next drive Jonah Harsted, who had scored a 1-yard TD on the previous drive, showcased that fullbacks can be fast too, as he turned om the jets and scored a 43-yard TD to make it 38-8, solidifying a potential blowout win for the Falcons. Once WAO got the ball back, they dove into their bag of tricks, sending Derek Moehrle on a jet sweep for a 50-yard rush, by far the longest play of the game for the Ponies. They were then able to capitalize on the drive with a 4-yard rushing TD by Kaden Pierce, his second rushing TD of the half. At 38-14 with under 2:00 left, the Falcons got yet another big carry from Wright, this time a 45-yard rushing TD. WAO made a late push at the end of the half, but a Hail Mary attempt was intercepted by Sorenson to end the half at 45-14, marking three WAO turnovers in the half.
3rd Quarter
The 3rd quarter went the polar opposite direction of the first half entirely. WAO got the ball to start the quarter, and proceeded to hold onto it for the first 7:41 of the quarter. They only threw the ball once in the first 11 eleven plays of the drive, and they continued to chip away at the Falcon defense, which had been very stingy beforehand. They got some timely third down carries from Kaden Pierce, Lucas Mock and Derek Moehrle to keep the drive alive. However, the turnover bug came back to haunt the Ponies once again, and on the 12th play of the drive, another tipped pass landed in the arms of Caleb Sather for Pierce’s third interception, and WAO’s fourth turnover of the game. Consistently throughout the game, Fertile-Beltrami capitalized incredibly quickly upon turnovers, and this one was no exception, as Isaiah Wright continued his monster performance with a 70-yard touchdown on 3rd and 5. This made the score 52-14, which was the score at the end of the 3rd quarter.
4th Quarter
WAO got the ball back with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter, and did not play with any sense of urgency for the remainder of the game. After not scoring on a 7:41 drive, they ended up going on a 10:39 drive this time. Just like the last drive, throwing the ball was incredibly rare, with Pierce, Mock and Moehrle handling the rushing for this drive. Unlike the last drive, however, they were able to capitalize with a score, as Derek Moehrle was able to pound it in for a rushing TD from 9 yards away. A successful 2-point conversion made the score 52-22. Fertile-Beltrami got the ball once again, and allowed offensive reserves Creed Tollefson and Caleb Sather to get a couple of touches. Eventually, the Falcons were able to kneel out the remainder of time on the clock, winning the game 52-22.
During the postgame, both coaches did have good things to say about their players and their efforts in the game. “I saw a lot of grit from our team” said WAO Head Coach Tony Gullickson. “but, you know, it’s tough when you’re going that way…we have a lot of work to do before Grygla.” On the opposite end, Falcons Head Coach Bryan Nelson complimented his players for playing well despite shifting positions. “We got a lot of new kids in a lot of new places” said Nelson, “we just need to grow, and I think we did that tonight.” When asked about Isaiah Wright and his 3 TD and 181 yard performance, Nelson lauded his running back for his athleticism, but not just on offense. “He’s a pretty dynamic player, but to tell you the truth, the way he was coming up and making tackles on defense too was great to see.”
Fertile-Beltrami improves to 3-0 on the year. The Ponie fall to 1-2 on the season.
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
WAO | 8 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 22 |
Fertile-Beltrami | 22 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 52 |
1st Quarter –
(FB) Isaiah Wright 22-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion failed)
(FB) Bryer Strem 37-yard TD reception from Easton Petry (2-point conversion successful)
(FB) Bryer Strem 31-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion successful)
(WAO) Kaden Pierce 2-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion successful)
2nd Quarter –
(FB) Jonah Harsted 1-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion successful)
(FB) Jonah Harsted 43-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion successful)
(WAO) Kaden Pierce 4-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion failed)
(FB) Isaiah Wright 45-yard rushing TD (extra point good)
3rd Quarter –
(FB) Isaiah Wright 70-yard rushing TD (extra point good)
4th Quarter –
(WAO) Derek Moehrle 9-yard rushing TD (2-point conversion successful)
TEAM STATS | Fertile-Beltrami | Warren-A-O |
Rushing Yards | 340 | 286 |
Passing Yards | 70 | 45 |
Total Yards | 410 | 331 |
Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 1-1 |
First Downs | 11 | 17 |
Penalties-Yards | 0-0 | 1-15 |
Punts | 0 | 1 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Fertile-Beltrami | Warren-A-O |
Rushing | Rushing |
Isaiah Wright- 7-181 YDS, 3 TD | Kaden Pierce- 27-142, 2 TD |
Jonah Harsted- 6-78 YDS, 2 TD | Derek Moehrle- 16-89 YDS, TD |
Bryer Strem- 3-41 YDS. TD | Owen Dvorak- 8-33 YDS |
Lucas Mock- 9-22 | |
Passing | Passing |
Easton Petry- 2-2, 70 YDS, TD | Kaden Pierce- 4-9, 45 YDS, 3 INT |
Receiving | Receiving |
Bryer Strem- 1-37 YDS, TD | Noah Sedlecek- 2-18 YDS |
Isaiah Wright- 1-33 YDS | Colton Otero- 1-14 YDS |
Derek Moehrle- 1-13 YDS | |








