Fertile-Beltrami Football Wins State 9-Man Championship

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons Football team used an outstanding defensive effort, intercepting three passes, recovering a fumble, and forcing several turnovers on downs to beat the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots 20-8 in the Minnesota State 9-Player Championship Football game at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.

Hills-Beaver Creek is 12-0 on the year and has outscored its opponents an average of 41 to 9 in those games. In the state tournament, they beat Border West 34-14 and Mountain Iron-Buhl 26-20. Fertile-Beltrami is 12-0 on the year and has outscored opponents by an average of 55 to 13. In the state tournament, they beat Cromwell-Wright 48-7 and LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli 60-33. In the two-section tournament games and the two state tournament games, Fertile-Beltrami is averaging 55 points per game!!!
In the first week of the season, Fertile-Beltrami beat Border West 60-32, but most of Border West’s points were scored in the fourth quarter when the Falcon starters were out of the game.

1st Quarter–
Fertile-Beltrami started the game with the ball, gained seven yards on three plays, and was forced to punt. After a 44-yard punt by Isaiah Wright with no return, Hills-Beaver Creek had the ball at their own 17-yard line. The Patriots had a nice drive going with three first downs before running for seven yards on two plays, they lost a yard on the next run thanks to a big defensive play by Jack Leiser. The next play was a fourth and four play, and a pass was broken up by the Falcons for a turnover on downs. The drive was 12 plays and took 6:23 off the clock.
Fertile-Beltrami’s second offensive possession started on a good note, with Isaiah Wright running for five yards and Jonah Harstad going for six yards and a first down. The next play was a 49-yard pass completion, but the ball was knocked loose, and Hills-Beaver Creek recovered the ball at their own 20-yard line.
The Fertile-Beltrami defense came up with a huge stop on the next three plays and forced Hills-Beaver Creek to punt, and after a 38-yard punt and a 14-yard Bryer Strem return, the Falcons had the ball at the Patriot 41-yard line. 

2nd Quarter –
Fertile-Beltrami started the drive with a run for no gain and an incomplete pass before Easton Petry found Bryer Strem for a 10-yard pass and a first down. Three plays later, Petry found Strem again for a nine-yard completion and another first down. The Falcons got the ball down to the 10-yard line, and after 10 plays, they went for it on fourth and two and were stopped after a gain of one yard and turned the ball over on downs.
Hills-Beaver Creek was looking to answer after a big defensive stop. On the third play of the drive, Fertile-Beltrami’s Strem intercepted a pass to get the ball back.
The Falcons handed the ball to Wright for carries of 7, 5, and 13 to set up a first and goal at the nine-yard line. The first carry was for a loss of one yard before Strem ran for five yards, and Wright ran for four to set up a fourth and goal at the one-yard line. They tried a quarterback sneak, and they were stopped on the one-inch line for a turnover on downs.
Hills-Beaver Creek converted a fourth down and one play with a one-yard gain. Added a run of 10 yards for another first down. Two plays later they ran for 12 yards for another first down. Three plays later, the Patriots fired a pass down the field, and Steven Sather deflected the pass, and Strem caught the ball for his 14 interception of the season and second of the game.
Fertile-Beltrami ran six plays and turned the ball over on downs with 34 seconds left in the half, and the Patriots took a knee, and the game was scoreless going into halftime.

3rd Quarter –
Hills-Beaver Creek started the second half with the ball and decided to go for it on a fourth and one situation at their own 47 yard line. The handoff up the middle was stopped by Caleb Sather and the Patriots turned the ball over on downs.
Fertile-Beltrami took advantage of the Patriot gamble and Wright started the drive with a 20-yard run. Three plays later, Petry found Preston Hanson for a 13-yard pass for a first down at the Hills-Beaver Creek 12-yard line. Wright ran for two yards and then six yards before they were penalized five yards for a false start. Wright followed with a seven-yard run down to the two-yard line. Petry handed the ball off to Jonah Harstad up the middle for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead. The drive was eight plays and 47 yards, spanning just over four minutes. The two-point conversion pass failed, and the Falcons led 6-0.
Hills-Beaver Creek tried to answer, and on the second play of the drive, Caden Stoltman forced a fumble as he knocked the ball out of the Patriot ball carrier’s hands and Preston Hanson jumped on the ball and the Falcons had the ball back at the Patriot 42-yard line.
Fertile-Beltrami started the drive with Wright running for 10 and 18 yards. Harstad ran for nine yards, and Wright ran for a yard up the middle for a first down and goal at the four-yard line. Wright ran for a yard to get to the three-yard line before he ran into the endzone untouched for a three-yard touchdown for a 12-0 lead. Wright ran the two-point conversion to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead.
Hills-Beaver Creek didn’t waste any time responding as they started the ensuing drive with a nine-yard run before Jamin Metzger flung a pass down the sideline, and James VandenBosch made the catch, tight roped the sideline to stay in bounds and dove into the endzone for a 53-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was successful to cut Fertile-Beltrami’s lead down to 14-8 going into the fourth quarter.

4th Quarter –
Fertile-Beltrami started their next drive at the 50-yard line at the end of the third quarter, and Wright scampered 38 yards on the second play to get the ball down to the Patriot 12-yard line. Wright carried the ball twice for six yards, and on a third down and four, Hills-Beaver Creek was called for an encroachment penalty, awarding the Falcons five yards and a first down. Harstad ran for a yard up the middle to get a first down, setting up a first and goal from the two-yard line. Wright ran for one yard before he was stopped for no gain on the next play. The Falcons handed the ball to Harstad, who went in for a touchdown, and after the extra point failed, Fertile-Beltrami led 20-8 after an eight-play 50-yard drive that took 4:08 off the clock.
Hills-Beaver Creek was driving and had the ball at midfield and lost two yards on a second down and one. The next play was an incomplete pass and on fourth and three, Fertile-Beltrami’s defense came up with a huge stop when Gage Henrickson and Jack Leiser made a tackle for no gain and the Falcons got the ball on a turnover on downs with 6:55 left in the game.
Fertile-Beltrami ran seven plays for 34 yards before they fumbled the ball and Hills-Beaver Creek recovered the ball to get the ball back with 3:23 remaining. The first play was a four-yard run, followed by a 10-yard pass. The third play of the drive was a three-yard run for a first down. The Patriots dropped back to pass and Strem jumped in front of the intended receiver and tipped the ball in the air. Fertile-Belatrami’s Wright caught the ball, and they had the ball with 2:31 left while leading 20-8.
Fertile-Beltrami ran two plays for a first down. Wright ran for a yard before Coach Brian Nelson took out the starters and put in nine new players. They took a knee and the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons won the state championship 20-8, for the first ever Falcon Football state title.

Fertile-Beltrami ends the season with a 13-0 record and a State Championship. Hills-Beaver Creek ends the season at 12-1.

SCORING-
1st Quarter –
No scoring

2nd Quarter –
No scoring

3rd Quarter –
5:50 – FB – Jonah Harstad 2 yard run (pass failed)
2:31 – FB – Isaiah Wright 3 yard run (Isaiah Wright run)
2:09 – HBC – Jamin Metzger 53 yard pass to James VandenBosch (Beau Bakken run)

4th Quarter –
9:58 – FB – Jonah Harstad 1 yard run (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

FB at the anthem

Jonah Harsted

Easton Petry

Caleb Stoltman

Isaiah Wright

Bryer Strem

Fertile-Beltrami students

Sign for Gage Hendrickson

Petry to Wright

Drew Gullickson

Caleb Sather

Easton Petry

Fertile-Beltrami Cheerleaders

Steven Sather and Caleb Sather

Isaiah Wright

Isaiah Wright

Vincent Landsrud

Micah Iverson receives the Most Valuable Teammate award