Sports

Braves tame Mustangs to earn first victory

By Tyler Ohmann

10/01/2013

The Bottineau Braves sacked the Surrey Mustangs six times and forced a pair of turnovers en route to a 26-12 homecoming win last Friday night.

Bottineau got a strong performance from junior Ethan Kerslake, who rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown, and also returned a kick off 92 yards for a score.

“I really felt that our running backs, especially Kerslake, ran with a lot of confidence and determination, and along with better line play was the difference of the game,” stated Braves head coach Rob Bedlion.

Senior Andrew Hill ran in a touchdown score and tossed one to John Gohman in the victory.

“I was very happy that the team was able to play hard and get a win,” Bedlion stated. “We played much better on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”

Senior offense and defensive lineman Jake Carroll was excited after the win.

“It’s amazing for a small team like us to play tough and get a win,” Carroll said. “A night in the rain like this, there is nothing better.”

Carroll was a big part in the Bottineau run game, as he helped lead blocks on many of the runs that totaled 235 yards.

“We had more heart, we were faster and we beat them to the hole,” Carroll said about the offensive line. “We have people that want to play, and they played.”

Defensively is where the Braves really shined as they held the Mustangs to just 40 yards rushing on 26 carries, forced two turnovers and got six sacks.

“Our defensive line did a great job of putting pressure on their QB and they were able to hit and/or sack him multiple times,” Bedlion stated.

A big part of that defensive effort was senior defensive end Tanner Bickford.

Bicford had a team-best nine tackles and 2.5 sacks. Carroll also played strong with eight tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Senior Cody Bedlion anchored the defense with eight tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery.

“Coach has been preaching to us all week that we have to be more physical,” Bickford said. “I had 10 other guys out there filling every which hole, so it makes it a whole heck of a lot easier for me to get through and make plays.”

Bickford was optimistic about the win.

“It feels good, because we dug ourselves an 0-4 hole, but this is such a confidence builder,” Bickford said. “The beauty of this win is that we won by 14 and we made a ton of mistakes, so it’s a confidence builder moving forward.”

The win has Bickford and Carroll talking playoffs, which is still their goal.

“It gives us a real opening for playoffs now, because last week we opened conference play, and we’re going to move up and hopefully get some more wins,” Carroll said.

“I believe next week is a winnable game, and we can do some good things from here on out,” Bickford said. “We can make people notice us, and who says we can’t make a push for the playoffs.”

The win put Bottineau at 1-4 overall and 1-3 in region play.
Bottineau will play at undefeated region foe Des Lacs-Burlington at 7 p.m. on Thursday.