Sports

Big plays doom Braves

By Matthew Semisch

09/09/2014

Following a 48-7 season-opening loss to North Prairie in which just about nothing went right for the Bottineau High football team, the Braves were looking to put up an improved showing Friday against Velva.

That’s what happened, but despite a better performance, a first victory of the season didn’t come along with it.

Big plays hurt Bottineau on Aug. 26 against North Prairie in Rolla. They did so again in the Braves’ home opener on Friday, a 22-14 loss to Velva in both teams’ first Class A Region 3 action this season.

Friday’s game was close throughout, with the Aggies only picking up the game-winning score through a 26-yard touchdown pass from Shad Vedna to Brady Engebretson with just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.

It was the second time Vedna and Engebretson found paydirt together on Friday, as they had also connected on a 35-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the game’s first quarter.

Bottineau then got onto the scoreboard less than four minutes into the second quarter. A one-yard touchdown run from backup running back Braden Pewe - in for injured starter Ethan Kerslake, who sprained his medial collateral ligament against North Prairie - put the Braves down only 8-6. A subsequent two-point conversion attempt failed, however.

Inside the final minute of the first half, Velva fortified its lead. A 17-yard touchdown pass from Vedna to Aggies wideout Issac Effertz put their team further ahead.

After play resumed, Bottineau tied the game up at 14-14 midway through the third quarter. Pewe and junior tailback Hunter Tooke performed well together on Friday in Kerslake’s stead, and a touchdown from Tooke was enough to put the Braves only down 14-12 before he reached the end zone again on a two-point conversion attempt.

After Engebretson scored his second touchdown of the evening in the fourth quarter, though, the Braves weren’t able to restore parity.

Even still, Bottineau head coach Rob Bedlion came away heartened by a much better performance from his team on Friday than the Braves showed in its first game of the year.

“I was very happy to see our players compete for a whole game and really battle,” Bedlion said of the Braves’ efforts against Velva. “They worked very hard and put themselves in a situation to win the game (but) in the end we still made too many mistakes and were a little one-dimensional.”

Pewe led the Braves in rushing with one touchdown scored and 123 yards gained on 27 carries, while Tooke also scored once and picked up 92 yards.

Junior Braves wide receiver Ethan Jensen was the only Bottineau wideout to contribute, gaining nine yards on quarterback Brody Moum’s only completed pass out of nine throws.

Bottineau had a week and a half to prepare for Velva after the season-opening loss to North Prairie. This week will see them have much less off time before a trip to 2-0 Lewis & Clark-Our Redeemer’s on Thursday.

“We have a short week coming up and a very good Our Redeemer’s team,” Bedlion said. “We are hoping to take another step forward and compete hard on Thursday night. “