“I’m very happy with how we came out and played in this game,” stated Barnesville Head Coach Bryan Strand.  “To play the way we did in the section final says something about this group of young men.  We made a mistake on our first drive and turned the ball over inside the 20 and the defense came out and held and for the first time all year we trailed in a game.  The boys responded and just got to work.  It’s such a fun group to coach and you could just see it in their eyes last night, they wanted it and they were going to outwork anyone in their way.”

Zachary Bredman turned in another great performance with 3 TD passes and a rushing touchdown.  He completed 4 of his 5 pass attempts for 110 yards.  Braeden Bredman caught 2 passes for 66 yards with both of his catches going for TD’s.  He also led the rushing attack with 80 yards on 80 carries and a TD.  John Roller finished with 63 yards on 8 attempts.  Barnesville had 399 yards (289 rushing, 110 passing) in the game and recorded 22 first downs, while holding Crookston to 56 total yards and 2 first downs.

“Offensively, we were clicking, and scored points quickly,” noted Coach Strand.  “Everything starts up front with our line and they were spectacular last night, getting after it and opening up nice holes for our backs and giving Zachary time to throw.  We clicked in every facet of the game and it was fun to watch.  Defensively, we were great against the run once again, giving up only 2 yards rushing to a very good run team and UND commit Ethan Boll.”

Defensively, Austin Pender caused a fumble and had a fumble recovery, Braeden Bredman was in on 5 tackles and recovered a fumble, Jack Maesse recorded a sack, Connor Loeks had 5 solo tackles and 3 assisted tackles, Jonny Robideau was in on six tackles, caused a fumble and had a fumble recovery, and Andrew Pederson, Wyatt Suter and Jordan Kroll each blocked a kick.  Logan Yeske also recovered a fumble for the Trojans.

The Pirates got on the board first when Jake Erickson hit a field goal for an early 3-0 lead.  After that it was all Barnesville as Zachary Bredman connected with Andrew Pederson for a 29 yard TD pass and Isaac Maneval tacked on the extra point for a 7-3 lead.  Braeden Bredman’s first touchdown of the night came on a 4 yard run to make it 13-3 at the end of one quarter.

Jonny Robideau had a scoop and score to start the second quarter going 43 yards after picking up a fumble.  Braeden Bredman carried the ball into the end zone for the two-point conversion and a 21-3 Barnesville lead.  Zachary Bredman then scored on a 6 yard run and Maneval made the PAT kick for a 28-3 lead.  Zachary then hit Braeden on consecutive TD passes of 26 and 40 yards with Maneval true on both extra-point kicks, giving the Trojans a 42-3 halftime advantage.

Gannon Bolgrean’s 13 yard TD run in the third quarter and another Maneval kick put the score at 49-3 and an 8 yard run by Pederson in the fourth quarter, followed by his extra-point kick put the final score at 56-3.