Sports

Braves shut out by undefeated Lakers

By Tyler Ohmann

10/08/2013

Playing on the road is tough enough, but having to play against an undefeated Des Lacs-Burlington team makes it even tougher.

That is what awaited the Bottineau Braves last Thursday night as they met the 5-0 Lakers.

The Braves were unable to use the momentum from a homecoming win a week earlier and the Lakers shut out Bottineau in a 36-0 win.

“We were disappointed in our performance Thursday night,” stated Braves head coach Rob Bedlion. “We had way too many turnovers, penalties, and mistakes to be competitive in the game.”

Scoring commenced in the first quarter as DLB’s Eric Knutson plunged in for a score early in the first quarter to give them a 7-0 lead.

Later in the first Laker quarterback Austin Schestler connected with tight end Tanner Holte for a 17-yard score to make it 14-0.

Schestler would find Cole Edwards for a 28-yard score before the half and after a conversion the Lakers led 22-0 at the break.

Things would not slow down for the Lakers in the third quarter as Brett Schaefer would score twice early in the third quarter on rushes of two and 20 yards.

“We gave a lot of effort but just made it too tough on ourselves,” Bedlion stated. “We played like an unprepared football team and even though it was a short week there is no excuse for that.”

“That is my fault as the head coach and that will not happen again this week,” Bedlion added.

Schaefer finished with 108 yards rushing on 11 carries. Knutson added 84 yards on the ground and Schestler went 7-of-12 for 135 yards through the air.

Bottineau was led by a ground game featuring junior Ethan Kerslake, who finished with 18 carries for 87 yards in the contest. Braden Pewe had eight carries for 42 yards.

Defensively the Braves were led by seniors Jake Carroll (nine tackles, sack), Cody Bedlion (nine tackles, two fumble recoveries) and Tanner Bickford (six tackles, 1.5 sacks).

Bottineau dropped to 1-5 after the loss and 1-4 in Region 3 play.
The Braves will try and right the ship next week as they host the Williams County Firestorm (3-3 overall, 1-3 region).

“We will have a good week of practice and play smart and consistent football on Friday,” Bedlion stated.