FERTILE-BELTRAMI FOOTBALL’S HISTORIC SEASON COMES TO AN END WITH LOSS IN STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons historic football season came to an end on Saturday morning with a 48-8 loss to the LeRoy-Ostrander Cardinals in the State 9-man Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. It was the first-ever State Championship game appearance for the Falcons, but a strong offensive and defensive performance from LeRoy-Ostrander would force the Falcons to settle for 2nd place.

FIRST-QUARTER-

The first half of play was all LeRoy-Ostrander, as they jumped on the Falcons early and never looked back. Fertile-Beltrami received the opening kickoff and had the first opportunity to take an early lead. The Cardinals defense made an early statement, as the Falcons opening drive went backward for a three and out. After a nice return from Layne Bird, LeRoy-Ostrander would have excellent field position on the Falcons 39-yard line. The Cardinals took advantage of the field position, as after picking up a first down running the football, Chase Johnson delivered a deep strike down the sideline to Tristan Lewison for a 29-yard touchdown pass to put LeRoy-Ostrander on the board first with 8:56 to play in the first quarter. Gavin Sweeney would add the extra point making it 7-0. The Falcons once again would be unsuccessful in moving the football, as the Cardinals defense would force another three and out. The LeRoy Ostrander offense wasted no time to add to their lead, as on the second play of the drive, Chase Johnson would keep a hand-off break a few tackles, and run all the way down the field for a 54-yard touchdown run. Gavin Sweeney would add another extra point building the Cardinals lead to 14-0 with 6:04 remaining in the first quarter. Unlike the first two drives of the game, Fertile-Beltrami would move the football down the field for their best drive of the opening quarter, but it wouldn’t end in points. The Falcons would pick up their 1st first down of the game on an Everett Balstad run moving the ball into LeRoy-Ostrander territory. After a few more first downs, Fertile-Beltrami found themselves with a first down at the Cardinals 11-yard line. On a third down, the Cardinals defense once again made a huge play to keep the Falcons off the scoreboard. Tanner Olson intercepted a screen pass on a third-down play, giving the LeRoy-Ostrander offense the football back still in front 14-0. The Cardinals would pick up two more first downs on the ensuing possession before the end of the quarter and would be in Fertile-Beltrami territory to start the second quarter.

SECOND-QUARTER-

The Cardinals continued to extend their lead in the second quarter. On the first play of the quarter, the Cardinals offense hit another big play, as Chase Johnson had his third touchdown of the game on a 38-yard pass to Tristan Lewison. It was Lewison’s second receiving touchdown in the game, and after the extra point, LeRoy Ostrander had opened up their lead to 21-0 with 11:55 to play until halftime. On the next possession, Fertile-Beltrami would turn the ball over for the second time in the football game, as a tipped pass off the hands of the receiver and would fall into Tristan Lewison’s hands for an interception, setting up LeRoy Ostrander inside the Falcons 35-yard line. It took only four plays, and the Cardinals were once again in the end zone. Tanner Olson finished this drive off with a 1-yard touchdown run, and after the Gavin Sweeney extra point, the Cardinals led 28-0 with 8:49 left in the first half. The Falcons would have their best field possession of the first half in Cardinals territory after a great return from Brayden Werpy. The Falcons would get two first downs on the first two plays of the drive, setting themselves up with a first down at the Cardinal’s 16-yard line. After a penalty and a few incomplete passes, the Falcons would find themselves in a fourth down and long and would elect to go for it as they were inside the Cardinals 30-yard line. Rylin Petry would be sacked and another nice drive for the Falcons would end with nothing to show for it. For the fifth straight drive, LeRoy-Ostrander would score, this time on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Chase Johnson to Gavin Sweeney. The two-point conversion would fail to leave the score 34-0 Cardinals with 4:12 to go until halftime. The Falcons would have one last chance in the first half to get some points on the board and build some momentum going into the halftime break. For the third time in the football game, Fertile-Beltrami would move down the field and into the red zone, thanks to a 15-yard run from Rylin Petry. The Falcons would get themselves down to the 1-yard line, and Everett Balstad would run in the touchdown to put Fertile-Beltrami on the scoreboard with 1:06 left in the half. The two-point conversion would be successful, making the score 34-8 LeRoy-Ostrander. 1:06 was enough time for the Cardinals to add one more score before heading into halftime. Chase Johnson threw a perfect pass to Layne Bird in stride for a 55-yard touchdown pass right before the end of the half. Gavin Sweeney would add the extra point, and the Cardinals would take a 41-8 lead into halftime. The Cardinals outgained the Falcons 345-173 in Total Offense in the first half and Chase Johnson had 5 total TD’s.

THIRD-QUARTER-

The second half saw fewer possessions, as both teams had a few longer drives and kept the ball on the ground. The Cardinals received the second-half kickoff and picked up right where they left off. They would go on their longest drive of the game, converting one-fourth down and ending the drive with a Tanner Olson 3-yard touchdown run. Gavin Sweeney would add the extra point making it a 48-8 lead with 6:20 left in the third quarter. The drive was 11 plays and 68 yards. The Falcons continued to show fight and never quit playing hard the entire game. On their first drive of the second half, they would quickly face a fourth down and elect to go for it. Everett Balstad would take a handoff and get just enough to keep the drive alive. On the next play, Rylin Petry would find Ryan Van Den Einde for a 37-yard pass completion down to the LeRoy Ostrander 28-yard line. Unfortunately for Fertile-Beltrami, another promising drive would end up with nothing. A miscommunication on a handoff would result in a fumble that Hayden Sass would fall on giving the Cardinals the football back with 3:25 to play in the quarter. The Cardinals once again could not be stopped, as they would run the ball six times capped off with Tanner Olson’s third rushing touchdown of the football game, this time a 36-yard run. Gavin Sweeney would tack on the extra point putting the Cardinals in front 55-8 at the end of the third quarter.

FOURTH-QUARTER-

The fourth quarter was played with running time per Minnesota State High School League Rules with the margin being above 35+ points. The Falcons would punt on their next possession after failing to pick up a first down, and after an impressive 55-yard punt from Rylin Petry, the Cardinals would start on their own 29-yard line. The Cardinals would tack on one last field goal making it a 58-8 lead late in the fourth quarter. On the Falcon’s last offensive possession of the season, they would turn it over on downs, and LeRoy-Ostrander would run the remaining time off the clock securing their spot in history as the 2021 9-man State Champions.

Fertile-Beltrami ends its historic and impressive season with a 2nd place finish in the 9-man State Tournament, finishing with a 13-1 record. In the State Championship, Brayden Werpy set a new single-game Prep Bowl record for most return yards, and kickoff return yards (197). In the Awards Ceremony, Tyson Stuhaug was also voted as the Most Valuable Teammate for Fertile-Beltrami.

LeRoy-Ostrander finishes as the 9-man State Champions with a final record of 12-2. Their 58 points scored in the Championship game are the most scored in a Minnesota 9-man Championship since 1976. Chase Johnson had a total of 412 yards of offense in the game, which is now the new record for most yards in a Prep Bowl by an individual player.

Listen to an interview with Fertile-Beltrami Falcon head Coach Brian Nelson below. 

1st Quarter
8:56 – LEROY – Chase Johnson 29-yard pass to Tristan Lewison (Gavin Sweeney kick)
6:04 – LEROY – Chase Johnson 54-yard run (Gavin Sweeney kick)

2nd Quarter
11:55 – LEROY – Chase Johnson 38-yard pass to Tristan Lewison (Gavin Sweeney kick)
8:49 – LEROY – Tanner Olson 1-yard run (Gavin Sweeney kick)
4:12 – LEROY – Chase Johnson 10-yard pass to Tristan Lewison (pass failed)
1:06 – FB – Everett Balstad 1-yard run (Rylin Petry pass to Ryan Van Den Einde)
0:41 – LEROY – Chase Johnson 55-yard pass to Layne Bird (Gavin Sweeney kick)

3rd quarter
6:20 – LEROY – Tanner Olson 3-yard run (Gavin Sweeney kick)
0:11 – LEROY – Tanner Olson 36-yard run (Gavin Sweeney kick)

4th quarter
4:39 – LEROY – Gavin Sweeney 23-yard field goal 

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INDIVIDUAL STATS