FERTILE-BELTRAMI FOOTBALL OFF TO STATE AFTER WINNING SECTION 6 9-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons Football team punched their ticket to the Minnesota 9-man State Tournament on Thursday afternoon defeating the Norman County East/UH Titans 26-20 in the Section 6 9-man championship game played at the Fargo Dome. The Falcons used three second-half touchdowns and a big defensive stop to secure the win.

FIRST-QUARTER –

The Titans received the opening kickoff and made a strong statement to start the game. They kept the ball on the ground and moved it inside the Falcons 40-yard line with two first-down conversions. From there, Zech Juarez took two handoffs and moved the Titans inside the red zone for the first good scoring chance of the game. Fertile-Beltrami forced Norman County East/UH into a third down and four from the 12-yard line, but Zech Juarez got just enough for a first down on a run, keeping the drive alive. A few plays later, on the first pass of the game, Connor Nelson found Reed Klemetson in the back of the end zone to give the Titans the lead. The two-point conversion would fail giving Norman County East/UH a 6-0 lead with 6:19 remaining in the first quarter. “That obviously wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game,” said Fertile-Beltrami Coach Brian Nelson. “They came out and did some nice things and used their size to move the ball down the field.” It was the longest drive of the first half, as the Titans picked up five first downs on 12 plays 65 yards and took almost six minutes controlling the line of scrimmage. Fertile-Beltrami picked up three first downs on their opening drive of the game on just six plays before a holding penalty stalled the drive. Facing a fourth down and long, the Falcons had no choice but to punt it back to Norman East County/UH. After a 41-yard punt from Rylin Petry, the Titans would take over on their own 15-yard line. The Falcons defense made a few huge plays to get their offense back onto the field and swing the momentum. They would quickly force a Titans fumble that Norman County East would fall on, and then on the next play, would sack Connor Nelson before an incomplete pass would bring up fourth down. On the ensuing punt, Brayden Werpy would have a nice 16-yard return giving Fertile-Beltrami excellent field position on the Titans 29-yard line.

SECOND-QUARTER –

Everett Balstad then took the first play of the Falcons next possession for a 22-yard run down to the Titans seven-yard line setting up a first and goal. Fertile-Beltrami ended up with a fourth down and goal from the one-yard line and would elect to go for it. Everett Balstad would get the football and punch it in for the Falcons first score of the game, tying things up at 6-6 with 9:24 remaining in the first half. “That was big, but I have to give credit to the line,” said Balstad. “They did a great job today.”  The two-point conversion would fail. The Titans offense would put some pressure on the Falcons defense once again, as Connor Nelson would roll out to his left and find Reed Klemetson down the field for a 41-yard completion to the Falcons 17-yard line. A few plays later, the Falcons defense made the biggest defensive play of the first half. Their defense would force a third down and long, and Everett Balstad would leap to snag an interception giving the Falcons the football back and keeping the game tied at 6-6 with 5:43 left in the second quarter. “Our defense came up with a lot of big plays today,” said Coach Nelson. “Everett is our leader because he is so good on offense and defense.”  Fertile Beltrami once again was moving the football before a holding penalty would stall the drive and force the Falcons to punt. After a shorter punt, the Titans would take over on their own 24-yard line with a chance to take a lead into the halftime break with just 2:03 remaining. Norman County East/UH would get the football to the Fertile-Beltrami 40-yard line with one second remaining, leaving one last Hail Mary attempt before the half would end. The Titans would instead throw a screen pass that would end up well short of the end zone, leaving the score 6-6 heading into the halftime break. Both teams moved the football effectively in the first half but missed some opportunities keeping it a low-scoring game at 6-6.  “The message at halftime was we had to cut down on some of the stupid plays,” said 

THIRD-QUARTER –

The offenses were the storyline in the second half. Fertile-Beltrami received the ball to begin the second half looking to take their first lead of the game. The Falcons like Norman County East/UH in the first half, made a statement on their opening possession of the second half. They continued to move the football well, running two plays for first downs moving the ball into Norman County East/UH territory. This time, Fertile-Beltrami would finish the drive with a touchdown taking their first lead of the game. Everett Balstad would run in a 10-yard touchdown finishing a 9 play 65-yard drive. Balstad would be stopped on the two-point conversion giving the Falcons a 12-6 lead with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter. The offenses clearly woke up during the halftime break, as just a few plays later, the Titans responded with a 47-yard strike from Connor Nelson to Reed Klemetson tying the game back up at 12-12. Nelson would convert the first two-point conversion of the game giving Norman County East/UH the lead back at 14-12 with 7:36 left in the third quarter. Fertile-Beltrami continued to feed Everett Balstad and he continued to rack up yards leading the Falcons all the way down the field before running in his third touchdown of the game, this time a 7-yard run giving Fertile-Beltrami the lead back. It was the third lead change of the game. The two-point conversion failed to give the Falcons the lead 18-14 with 2:12 remaining in the game. The drive was the longest of the game as the Falcons ran 15 plays and went 85 yards. Neither offense was stopped in the third quarter, as the teams combined for 20 points after scoring just 12 in the entire first half.

FOURTH QUARTER –

The biggest play early in the fourth quarter came on a fourth down and one for the Titans offense on their own 43-yard line. The Norman County East/UH offense would prevail as Connor Nelson would run a QB sneak and pick up the first down extending the drive. The Fertile-Beltrami defense finally got the first stop of the second half, and it would prove to be the biggest of the game. Tyler Stuhaug would fall on a Titans fumble after a mishandled exchange between the quarterback and running back, giving the Falcons the ball around midfield with 8:37 remaining in the game as Fertile-Beltrami would look to extend the 18-14 lead and potentially put the game out of reach. The Falcons would go right down the field scoring a touchdown on their third straight drive. This time it was Rylin Petry on a 2-yard run, and Isaiah Wright on the two-point conversion, giving the Falcons a 26-14 lead with just 5:02 remaining in the football game. The Titans needed to score quickly to keep their season alive and their hopes of going to the State Tournament. The Titans would in fact score on a 3-yard run from Connor Nelson with 1:26 remaining in the football game. The two-point conversion would fail leaving Fertile-Beltrami in front 26-20 and the Titans needing to get an onside kick. Micah Herbel would fall on the onside kick for the Falcons, and Fertile-Beltrami would run the remaining time off the clock securing a 26-20 victory and berth in the 9-Man State Tournament next week.  “This was great for the guys.  They have been working hard to get to this point and we have some great seniors,” said Nelson. “This is good for the community too.  We have had some close losses in the championship games over the past few years, so this is nice.”

Norman County East/UH wraps up the season with an 8-3 record with two of their losses coming against Fertile Beltrami.
The Falcons stay perfect on the season and will play in the first round of the State Tournament on Thursday, November 11. The kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Grand Rapids High School. The Falcons will play the Section 7 9-man champion, which will be the winner of Mountain Iron-Buhl and Cherry.  The teams play Friday night.  “We will exchange tape and get ready for them,” said Coach Nelson. “It looks like we will be able to practice outside early next week and we will watch film Friday.  It is nice to be back in the state tournament and we will enjoy this win for a bit.”

1st Quarter
6:19 – NCE/UH – Connor Nelson 3-yard pass to Reed Klemetson (run failed)

2nd Quarter
9:24 – FB – Everett Balstad 1-yard run (pass failed)

3rd quarter
9:13 – FB – Everett Balstad 10-yard run (run failed)
7:36 – NCE/UH – Connor Nelson 47-yard pass to Reed Klemetson (Nelson run)
2:12 – FB – Everett Balstad 7-yard run (run failed)

4th quarter
5:02 – FB – Rylin Petry 2-yard run (Wright run)
1:26 – NCE/UH – Connor Nelson 3-yard run (run failed)

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INDIVIDUAL STATS

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