Kittson Co. Central football’s comeback falls short in loss to Hillcrest Lutheran in State Semifinals

The Kittson County Central Bearcats came so close to pulling off a miraculous 4th quarter comeback, but just didn;t have one more defensive stop in them, as the Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Comets held on for a 27-21 win at US Bank Stadiun in the State 9-Player Semifinals.

1st Quarter –
Hillcrest Lutheran got the ball first to start the game, and the passing game immediately stepped up to play for the Comets. After two rushes amounted to no gain, a 17-yard pass by Ethan Swedberg opened things up for the Comets. The next set of downs again saw the Comets on a 3rd and long, but another pass play allowed them to move the chains. Eventually, a very impressive pass from Swenberg to Drew Fisher opened up the scoring, and the Comets took a 7-0 lead. On the ensuing KCC drive, they were able to get one first down before being forced to punt on a 4th and 11, giving the ball back to the Comets. After an 11-play drive that resulted in a touchdown, the Comets’ second possession also resulted in a long drive, but this one did not lead to any points, as Swedberg threw an incompletion on 4th and 11, turning the ball over on downs. KCC got the ball back on their own 13, but after a 6-yard rush, a Peterson pass was intercepted, giving 1st and Goal to the Comets on the 9-yard line. They were able to punch it in, as Swedberg rushes it in from 3 yards out, putting the Comets up 13-0. KCC got the ball and were able to get two quick first downs before the end of the quarter.

2nd Quarter –
After two quick first downs to start the Bearcat drive at the end of the 1st quarter, the Bearcat offense stalled to start the second quarter, and were forced to punt the ball to the Comets. Though they were able to get a first down, the KCC defense stood tall and got the ball back on a punt. This led to the best drive of the game so far for the Bearcats; they executed a 10-play drive to perfection, getting big runs from Brock Scalese and Eli Muir before Eli Peterson ran it in from 6 yards out, putting KCC on the board, cutting the lead down to 13-7. On the ensuing Hillcrest Lutheran drive, the Comets were doing a good job getting the ball downfield, and once they got to the Bearcat 32, Swedberg completed a pass to Isaac Blaskowski for 28 yards, setting up 1st and Goal. After a few tries, Swedberg found Drew Fischer wide open for his 2nd touchdown of the game, making it 21-7 after the two-point conversion. The Bearcats had just under 2 minutes to put together a quick drive, and even though they got into the red zone, back-to-back incompletions in the end zone ended the half, with the Comets taking a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

3rd Quarter –
After an excellent kick return for the Bearcats, plus a face mask penalty, KCC started the second half with the ball on the Comet 38. However, they were unable to take advantage, and were stopped on 4th down, giving the ball back to the Comets. They were also less fortunate on offense, and were held to a three-and-out. The punt was partially blocked, giving the ball to the Bearcats in Comet territory once again, but just like the first drive, they were turned away on downs, and the Comet defense holds. Hillcrest Lutheran quickly went to Fischer to start their drive, putting them in prime position, but after a sack, the Comets were forced to punt yet again. The Bearcats then suffered a three-and-out in what was a very defensive quarter. The Comets looked to change that, and after three quick plays, the Comets were in the red zone. They were able to cash in on a Swedberg 5-yard rush, making it 27-7 after a blocked extra point. Once the Bearcats got the ball back, Ashton Knutson broke free for a 23-yard rush, putting KCC in Comet territory before Knutson took a screen all the way to the 8-yard line, before the end of the 3rd quarter.

4th Quarter –
KCC was bale to cash in at the start of the 4th quarter, as Eli Peterson found Ashton Knutson for a 10-yard TD, cutting the lead down to 27-14. Then, the Bearcats successfully recovered an onside kick, and got the ball to the 21-yard line after a penalty and a 14-yard rush by Kellen Johnson. Then, Peterson found Johnson for a 21-yard TD pass, and the lead suddenly was diminished down to 27-21. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy got the ball back, and though they got a few first downs, the KCC defense successfully stopped the Comets on 4th down, getting the ball right back. A great Eli Peterson throw got the ball to the 40-yard line, but were faced with a 4th and 4 on the 34. Eli Peterson then threw an interception, giving a gift back to the Comets with 4:22 left. This allowed the Comets to run down the final 4:22 of the game, kneeling out the final seconds to hold on to a 27-21 victory.

Kittson County Central’s season ends at 11-1 and they say goodbye to the following seniors: Brock Scalese, Gavin Johnson, Brody Scalese, Willie Nelson and Alex Peterson.
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy improves to 12-0 and will play Hills-Beaver Creek in the State 9-Player Championship on Saturday, November 22.

SCORING-
1st Quarter –
7:29 – HLA – Ethan Swedberg 19-yard pass to Drew Fischer (Pass failed)
0:33 – HLA – Ethan Swenberg 3-yard run (Kian Stender kick)

2nd Quarter –
5:23 – KCC – Eli Peterson 6-yard run (Keaton Brewer kick)
1:31 – HLA – Ethan Swedberg 2-yard pass to Drew Fischer (Ethan Swedberg pass to Sean Berge)

3rd Quarter –
2:48 – HLA – Ethan Swedberg 5-yard run (kick failed)

4th Quarter –
11:15 – KCC – Eli Peterson 10-yard pass to Ashton Knutson (Keaton Brewer kick)
9:49 – KCC – Eli Peterson 21-yard pass to Kellen Johnson (eKeaton Brewer kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Kellen Johnson

Track Folland

Willie Nelson

Ashton Knutson

Brock Scalese

The Bearcats

Ashton Knutson

Eli Peterson

James Cerkowniak

Elijah Muir

Kellen Johnson

Track Folland

Willie Nelson

Ashton Knutson

Brock Scalese

The Bearcats

Ashton Knutson

Eli Peterson

James Cerkowniak

Elijah Muir

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