“I felt coming in that Staples-Motley was going to give us a good game, and regardless of the score they are a good football team that came here with a 6-1 record,” said Head Coach Bryan Strand of Barnesville.  “It was a very physical game and at times way too chippy on the field, our penalty yards (95) prove that.  We need to be more composed on the field and quit making such dumb decisions especially on the offensive side of the wall, just way too many penalties that are negating good plays.  Our backs ran hard the entire night and the line blocked well.”

Barnesville opened up a 12-0 lead after one quarter on touchdown runs of 9 yards by Jackson Wahl and 15 yards by Adam Tonsfeldt.  A pair of second quarter TD runs by Aaron Schiefert (14 yards, 2 yards) and a two-point conversion run by Joey Mark lifted the Trojans to a 26-0 halftime lead.

In the third quarter Hunter Anderson broke loose for a 48 yard run and Wahl scored his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run.  Extra-point kicks by Nolan Rick and Connor Morse helped bring the final score to 40-0.

Leaders for the Trojans were Tonsfeldt (13 carries, 148 yards, Anderson (7 carries, 94 yards), Schiefert (8 carries, 60 yards) and Wahl (6 carries, 45 yards).  Barnesville had 392 rushing yards and 40 passing yards for a total of 432 yards of offense.  The Trojans had 17 first downs and didn’t commit a turnover.  Defensively they allowed only 52 total yards and five first downs.

“Defensively, I felt we played aggressively and that is what these guys are good at,” said Strand.  “They fly around and just make things happen.  We just need to do a better job of getting our emotions under control.  Finishing the season at 8-0 is a wonderful thing, but that is only one part of our goal, next up is to get through the section and then advance deeply into the state tourney.  We need to stay healthy and continue to improve on the field and off, and that includes the weight room.  We have Hawley at home on Tuesday and they always play us hard and their coaching staff does a great job of preparing them.  Should be a great contest.”