“We did some good things on Friday and we struggled with some others,” observed Barnesville Head Coach Bryan Strand.  “Defensively, going into the fourth quarter we had held them to 5 yards of total offense, at the end of the game they had 22 yards, 3 rushing 19 passing.  I felt we came to play defensively and were very good with our assignments.  Offensively, we have to do a better job of showing up ready to play and protecting Zachary passing.   We just felt flat in the first half and we did a much better job in the 3rd quarter.” 

Roller got in the end zone in the first quarter on a 17 yard run and Isaac Maneval tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 Barnesville lead.  The Trojans increased their lead to 9-0 at halftime, registering a safety in the second quarter.

Barnesville took control of the game with a 19 point third quarter as Zachary Bredman scored on a 5 yard run, Ethan Larson on a one yard run and Andrew Pederson on a 15 yard run.  Maneval booted an extra point after the Bredman TD, however, the kick was missed after Larson scored and a two-point try failed after the Pederson run.

“We subbed a ton in the fourth quarter and got in Gannon Bolgrean at QB who did a very nice job,” noted Coach Strand. Defensively, I felt Connor Loeks had a great game at LB, Brodee Gray made some very nice plays at corner.  Justin Krueger remains a force up front, he is big and strong and has been getting more and more aggressive each game. If he keeps improving he is going to be a force by the end of the season. Peyton Amundson and Logan Yeske both had good games at defensive end.  John Roller and Andrew Pederson (8 carries, 84 yards) both had great games in the backfield, John rushing for 108 yards and really having some big runs for us, Andrew continued to run hard and break off big plays.”  

Zachary Bredman completed 2-of-4 passes for 16 yards, one for 11 yards to Pederson and one for 5 yards to Roller.  Defensively, Brennan Steele recorded 1.5 sacks, Peyton Amundson and Connor Loeks each had one sack and Levi Eickenbrock was credited with half-a-sack. Ethan Larson had an interception for the Trojans and Loeks had a team high 5 tackles.

“We have two very tough games coming up, Pelican Rapids this week and Osakis the week after,” added Strand.  “We need to heal up, get some things figured out and play good football down this stretch.  Timmy Guler is a great QB who presents many challenges, our defense is going to have to get down their assignments and show up ready for the challenge.  Looking forward to seeing what our boys have.”