Sports

Defense steps up in shutout victory

By Tyler Ohmann

10/15/2013

A stout defensive performance gave the Bottineau Braves their second win of the season last Friday in a sloppy contest against visiting Williams County.

The senior-led Braves shutout the Firestorm 32-0 and held them to 32 total yards.

“It was great to get a win for our seniors and was fitting how they all had big contributions in the game,” stated Braves head coach Rob Bedlion. “I thought our defense played outstanding.”

It was coincidental since it was senior night and the final home game for Bottineau seniors.

“It was really nice, since it was senior night and our last game at home, it was nice,” said senior John Gohman.

The Braves did score five touchdowns on the day, so it wasn’t all defense.

Senior quarterback Andrew Hill had a pair of tough-nosed rushing touchdowns, and Gohman scored once for the Braves late in the game as well.

“I’m glad I got in the end zone,” Gohman said. “It was also nice to see them take the starters out and let the backups get in there.”

The big offensive performer though was work horse back Ethan Kerslake.

The junior wound up with 133 yards on 19 carries and also scored a pair of touchdowns.

“On the offensive side we were very basic and tried to win the battle up front,” Bedlion stated. “For the most part I thought we did that and our backfield ran with determination and got a lot of tough yards.”

Junior Braden Pewe also added 54 yards on six carries for the Braves.

The defense stepped up in a big way, especially on the defensive line.

Seniors Tanner Bickford (10 tackles, .5 sack) and Jake Carroll (nine tackles, 1.5 sacks, fumble recovery) were especially useful.

Jayhawk Shriver also got after the quarterback and had a sack and nine tackles. He also blew up a punt attempt by getting to the punter before he could get off the kick.

“On a night that was extremely wet and sloppy the defensive line was very dominant and our linebackers did a good job of filling,” Bedlion stated.

The shutout victory pushed the Braves to 2-5 on the season and 2-4 in Region 3 play.

Gohman was glad that he was able to win his final home game.

“I’m just glad that we ended on a win in our last game at home,” Gohman said.

Bottineau has a chance to play spoiler next week as they travel to play Harvey in a region tilt that has playoff implications for the Hornets.

“We look forward to the challenge of playing down in Harvey on Saturday. They need a win to have a chance at the playoffs and it would be great to play the spoiler,” Bedlion stated.

Gohman would like to escape with a win as well to close out the year.

“It would be really nice to end the season with a win,” Gohman said.

The Braves travel to play Harvey at 1 p.m. on Saturday.