Sports

Prep football kicks off with inter-county battle

By Tyler Ohmann

08/14/2012

Next Tuesday, Aug. 21, for the second straight time, there will be an inter-county football showdown. Bottineau will host Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn after traveling to Westhope in 2011 and stealing a 14-6 victory from the Sioux.
Bottineau Braves

After losing their leading receiver, their leading passer and their second leading rusher, some teams might just give up. Not Bottineau, instead of focusing on the guys they lost, they are focusing on what will return, and that is most of their 2011 offensive line.

“We do have some younger guys, but what I really like is that we have so much of our line back,” Bedlion said. “I think when you’ve got that, you are able to compete in every game.”

“When you have a good line, you give the other guys a chance to see what’s coming at them and make good choices,” Bedlion added.

Trevor Wettlaufer, who led Bottineau in rushing the past two seasons, agrees that line will help the Braves in 2012.

“We have a bunch of returning core players, and a lot of our linemen back,” Wettlaufer said. “I expect to be competitive.”

Linemen returning from last season include seniors Wyatt Johnson, Vince Bechtold and Dalton Sivertson, who all started last season.

After a strong 8-2 finish last season, which ended in a 40-20 loss to Wahpeton in the first round of the playoffs, Bottineau received its first taste of success. The leadership of Mark LaCroix, Justin McCloud and Matt Bowers, who all graduated, was passed on to Wettlaufer, who is a senior tail back this year.

“I am prepared,” Wettlaufer said. “I think learning from past examples of Mark, Justin and Matt, you learn those leadership skills that you need for your senior year.”

Bedlion said that Wettlaufer will be a key component to Bottineau’s offense this year.

“I think the biggest thing for us is to stay patient and use what we have, and what we have is a good running game,” Bedlion said. “If we work hard, and get ready to go, we should be ready to go by game one.”

With that though, Bedlion said the team doesn’t want to get too predictable.

“I think everyone is going to come in knowing we’re going to want to run the football,” Bedlion said. “So if we have some skill guys on the outside that can keep teams honest, and keep a guy out of the box, then we can be competitive.”

Wettlaufer noted a few things that Bottineau will need to repeat their 2011 success in 2012.

“We are going to need to play together,” Wettlaufer said. “You have to be friends to be good, and have everybody step up, know their roles and take those roles very seriously.”

“We just need to get crisp on everything: offense, defense, special teams, and make sure everything is right on key,” Wettlaufer added.

The opening challenge for Bottineau will be the Sioux, whom Bottineau narrowly beat to kick off last season. The Sioux are in Region 2 of Class A. Bottineau is in the West Region of Class AA.

The Braves know it will be no easy task to take down the Sioux, even if it is at home.

“It is always tough with Westhope coming in that early, it’s tough to get everything in, in two weeks time,” Bedlion said. “We will do our best, and the kids are working hard. We have been very happy with the effort level in practice.”

“It’s nice having it at home this time, but it’s definitely going to be a tough game,” Bedlion continued. “They are a good group, they have a lot of talent on their team, and it will be a hard-fought football game.”

Wettlaufer also acknowledged the competitiveness of the Sioux squad.

“I expect them to be competitive,” Wettlaufer said. “It should be a good game, just like it was last year.”

Bedlion also touched on how the game will be a bit of a rivalry, considering the two communities lie within Bottineau County, and are separated by only about 30 miles.

“With the two communities so close to each other, it has turned into a bit of a rivalry, and this might be the last time we get to play each other, so the kids want to play their best and go 2-0 in that series,” Bedlion said.

Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn Sioux

The story is entirely different for the Sioux, who lost a bunch of their lineman from 2011. All-State senior Josh Farmer from the 2011 squad is now suiting up at Minot State, and quarterback Hunter Braaten knows not having him and others from last year to protect him, may be a challenge.

“Our line is going to have to step up this year, we don’t have a lot of size,” Braaten said. “But our backs and receivers should be pretty good.”

Head Coach Tom Nesvold said that the team has some promise.

“The sky’s the limit,” Nesvold said. “But we got to find some linemen. We have some good, young linemen, but they need some experience.”

The Sioux, who finished 2011 with a 5-4 overall record and a 5-2 record in Region 2 of Class A, hope to return to region title form that they had in 2010, when Braaten started as a freshman.

“I expect to make our way through the region to the championship,” Braaten said. “Hopefully then, we can make our way to state.”

Nesvold also has strong expectations this season.

“We’ll lineup, and we’ll battle,” Nesvold said. “I expect to be in the mix in the end.”

The Sioux also will be without leading rusher Jake Tengesdahl, who graduated, and another back in Taylor Lesmann. However, they do return back Karlie Hancock and receiver Kodie Hancock, both solid players last season as juniors.

Braaten will lead the team for the third straight year, having started every game as signal caller since his freshman season.

“The experience helps me calm my nerves, which leads to making better plays,” Braaten said.

Braaten also stated that the Sioux are excited and ready for their game against Bottineau next Tuesday.

“Everybody seems pumped up and ready to go for our first game in Bottineau,” Braaten said. “The first game, you never know. We are just going to play our best, and see how it turns out.”

Nesvold too, has a lot of respect for Bottineau.

“They lost a lot, but they still have some quality players coming back,” Nesvold said. “Bedlion is a good coach, and he’s going to have them ready.”

This may be the last time the two teams play each other, as it appears that next season Bottineau may drop down to Class A and the Sioux could go back down to nine-man.

The stakes could not be higher.

“It’s about the closest team anybody plays,” Nesvold said. “It will be a good, close game, and hopefully we can come out on top this time.”