Sports
Braves unable to capitalize against Lions
Tyler Ohmann
09/25/2012
Friday’s 28-2 win by the Bishop Ryan Lions over the Bottineau Braves kept the Lions undefeated in West Region play and handed the Braves their third straight loss.
A turnover-ridden battle, the Lions used their home field advantage to stump the Braves offense and force two turnovers on goal-to-go situations.
“They are a good team to play, we just had some mistakes,” said Owen Furby, a Braves senior defensive lineman, who recently moved to Bottineau from Nebraska. “It’s kind of hard when you dig yourself a hole that deep to bounce back, but we are a team and we play together until the end.”
The Braves did just that as the Lions struck first in the first quarter when Austin Eggl hit Brody Bosch for a 10-yard score.
After a strong drive got the Braves deep in the red zone, Bottineau was unable to capitalize as junior quarterback Harrison Aide was stuffed on a fourth and goal play from the two.
However, on the very next play the Braves’ Jeremiah Aberle was able to pounce on Eggl after a bad snap forced him back into the end zone. The safety was the only scoring Bottineau would do in the game though.
However, the Braves defense did force two fumbles, which Furby said was a strong sign of things that are positive.
“There were many positives, a lot of young guys were stepping up,” Furby said. “We might not be the biggest team, but we’re going hard every play, and you can’t ask for more.”
The second half belonged to the Lions as they stretched their lead with an Eggl run in the third quarter, and closed it with two fourth-quarter touchdown runs from Nick Berentson.
“It was a tough loss for us because the guys played with a lot of effort and heart, but we made too many mistakes and didn’t capitalize on the mistakes Ryan made,” stated Braves head coach Rob Bedlion. “We also had two nice drives into the red zone in the second quarter and came away with zero points. You can’t let those opportunities slip away from you and be able to beat a good football team.”
The Braves out ran Lions 218-179, including holding the Lions leading rusher, Chase Fugere, to 37 yards on 14 carries.
However, Eggl was 13-of-23 for 140 yards and the touchdown through the air, despite windy conditions.
Berentson was the Lions leading receiver with five catches for 88 yards.
“We had several turnovers that gave Ryan good field position and put our defense in a tough spot,” Bedlion stated. “Overall the defense played well against the run but we gave up some big plays.”
The Braves defense was led by Cody Bedlion, who had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Senior Trevor Wettlaufer had eight tackles and a fumble recovery, while Wyatt Johnson and Andrew Hill each had forced fumbles and eight and seven tackles respectively.
Top offensive performer for the Braves was Wettalufer, who led all rushers with 133 yards on 30 carries. Aide had 17 carries for 86 yards for Bottineau, but was unable to connect with anyone through the air as he was 0-for-5.
“Offensively we did a good job on the ground but really struggled throwing the ball and that is really affecting the potency of our offense,” Bedlion stated.
Aide was also injured in the second half, and was replaced by Tanner Bickford. There is no word on Aides availability for next week’s game at Beulah, the West Regions top team.
For Furby, who was playing in his third game with the Braves since his move, he is just glad he landed on a good team, despite the current losing streak.
“It was real tough my first couple of weeks, doing my regular routine back home the past three years, and then coming here it was a total hill change,” Furby said. “I’m 700 miles away from home, and these people welcomed me like I’m at home. I couldn’t have asked for a better team.”
Furby believes that the (2-3, 0-3) Braves need to continue to look into the future and forget about the past few games.
“We just have to look forward, keep our heads high and stick together as a team,” Furby said. “We just have to stick together as a team, there is nothing else we can do.”
The Braves will be at undefeated Beulah at 7 p.m., next Friday in Beulah.
Notes: Wettlaufer currently has 824 yards rushing on 113 carries and six touchdowns in five games this season. That’s an average of 164.8 yards per game and 7.3 yards per carry.