Stephen-Argyle Football Loses Heart breaker to MIB in OT

The Stephen-Argyle Storm scored a touchdown to tie the game at 20 apiece with under two minutes remaining in regulation to force overtime, but the Mountain Iron-Buhl (MIB) Rangers scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion for a 28-20 overtime victory in the first round of the Minnesota State Football 9-Man tournament in a game played at Bemidji State University’s Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji on a cold and snowy evening.
The game couldn’t have started any better for Stephen-Argyle when MIB fumbled on the second play of the game and the Storm recovered the ball.  Stephen-Argyle had the ball at the MIB 30-yard line and handed the ball to Ashten Safranski three times for 11 yards and a first down.  The Storm lost five yards on the next two plays before Hunter Yutrzenka ran for 18 yards and a first down.  Two plays later, the Storm scored on a Safranski two-yard run and after the extra point kick was blocked, Stephen-Argyle led 6-0 just shy of four minutes into the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, MIB fumbled the ball again, but this time Stephen-Argyle didn’t take advantage of the short field and turned the ball over on downs.  MIB had a three-and-out and punted the ball 20 yards and Stephen-Argyle started the drive at their own 46-yard line.  The Storm started the drive with three penalties, but a big 23-yard run by Nathan Kotts reset the downs and a few plays later, Yutrzenka scored on a one-yard run and he completed a pass to Isaac Durand for the two-point conversion and the Storm took a 14-0 lead into the second quarter.
The second quarter wasn’t as favorable for the Storm as MIB scored two touchdowns over seven minutes apart and the big spark came when senior quarterback Joe Bufetta ran 82 yards for a touchdown and he added an eight-yard pass for a touchdown with 1:21 left in the half and he completed a pass for a two-point conversion and the teams were tied at 14 going into halftime.
MIB scored the only touchdown of the third quarter with 3:09 remaining when Buffetta found Vincent Benkusky for a 42-yard touchdown pass and the Rangers led 20-14.  Halfway through the fourth quarter, Stephen-Argyle turned the ball over on downs when they weren’t able to convert a fourth down and one play at the 30-yard line, but they were able to come up with a defensive stand and got the ball back with 4:35 left in regulation.  They ran five plays and were moving the ball down the field when Yutrzenka found Kotts down the sideline for a 33-yard completion.  “That was right up the sideline and Nathan made a great catch, Hunter threw a great ball and without that play we don’t go to overtime,” said Storm Coach Marquis.   Three plays later Yutrzenka scored on a four-yard quarterback sneak to tie the game at 20-20 with 1:50 left.  The touchdown completed a nine play 77-yard drive that took less than three minutes.   Stephen-Argyle looked like they were going to kick the extra point, but after a MIB timeout they decided to go for two and the run was stopped on a nice defensive play and MIB wasn’t able to connect on a long pass and the clock ran out after a punt and the teams were going to overtime.
MIB started overtime with the ball and each team gets four downs from the 10-yard line to see if they can score.  MIB’s first play was a three-yard run and the second play was a seven-yard touchdown for Jericho Peterson and Buffetta ran the ball into the end zone to convert the two-point conversion for a 28-20 lead. “We got out a little too far pursuit-wise and they cut back and they have shown throughout the night that and we let them slip through the back door,” said Coach Marquis.  Stephen-Argyle had the ball at the 10-yard line and the first play was a two-yard run for Jason Lindgren.  The second play was a two-yard run for Safranski to set up a third down and six play.  Kotts ran the ball three yards for fourth down and three yards.  The Storm tried a pass and the pass was a little behind the receiver and was incomplete and MIB won the game 28-20 in overtime.  “We came up a little short there and just couldn’t pull it off,” said Coach Marquis.
Stephen-Argyle ends the season with an 11-1 record and will lose the following seniors – Hunter Yutrzenka, Nathan Kotts, Isaac Durand, Ashten Safranski, Joston Hoeper, Jesse Clark, Collin Neuschwander, Taylor Voytilla, and Ethan MacGregor.  “They have been a part of some pretty good teams,” said Coach Marquis. “They are disappointed and they have to look back and realize they did some good things over the past four years and we will reflect on a successful season.”
MIB improves to 9-2 on the year and will play Mountain Lake Area on Friday at US Bank Stadium at 9:00 a.m.

James Peterson tries to break a tackle   Isaac Durand runs up the middle

Ashten Safranski runs over a MIB Ranger defender

1st Quarter
8:09 – SA – Ashten Safranski 2 yard run (kick blocked)
0:17 – SA – Hunter Yutrzenka 1 yard run (Yutrzenka pass to Isaac Durand)

Overtime
MIB – Jericho Peterson 7 yard run (Buffetta run)