Ashby/Brandon-Evansville started the scoring with a 20-yard fumble recovery return by Jake Norby.  Micah Fuller then hit Norby with the two-point conversion pass for an 8-0 lead.  Rothsay tied the game on a 45 yard pass from Preston Curtis to Matthew Danielson and a Curtis pass to Peyton Kadel for the conversion points.  The first quarter ended with the game tied 8-8.

Rothsay recorded a safety early in the second quarter, taking a 10-8 lead, however, Ashby/Brandon-Evansville regained the lead on a 10 yard run by Fuller as the Bolts took a 14-10 halftime advantage.

The third quarter saw ABE increase their lead to 20-10 on a 59 yard run by Logan Haburn.  Rothsay responded with a 72-yard kick-off return by Danielson, trimming the Bolts lead to 20-16.  A 74 yard touchdown run by Karson Jensen put Rothsay in front, 22-20, but Haburn broke loose for a 62 yard TD run which gave Ashby/Brandon-Evansville a 26-22 lead after three quarters.

Rothsay took a 30-26 lead when Jensen scooped up a fumble and went 31 yards for a touchdown and Ben Metzger hooked up with Landon Messerschmidt for the two-point conversion.  Ashby/Brandon-Evansville scored the game winning points on a 6 yard run by Fuller.

Ashby/Brandon-Evansville ran for 235 yards and passed for 22 yards.  Haburn ran for 200 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for 12 yards.  Fuller completed 4-of-11 passes for 22 yards.  Defensively, Bryce Froemming had two interceptions and Carter White picked off a pass, forced a fumble and had deflected a pass.  Colton Breitkreutz recorded a quarterback sack and forced a fumble and Norby had 2 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries.

Rothsay finished with 168 rushing yards and 106 yards through the air.

“Our team showed an incredible amount of grit in this game,” said Head Coach Dan Johnson of the Bolts. “In a game full of momentum shifts, we kept battling and we made crucial plays at crucial moments. We made two goal line stands after big plays with one of which being in the final minute of the game. This victory has the chance to be a major character builder as long as we still focus on our growth. I am proud of how our defense forced Rothsay’s athletic runners to stay in the run box for the majority of the game but we need to improve our pursuit angles and tackling when plays get into the open field. Offensively, we need to clean up some blocking miscues and get more consistency with our route running. We have aggressive runners that can grind out drive extending runs if we can get them to the second level of the defense. We need to better ensure that happens. Our pass protection has been terrific in these first two games but it still comes down to getting completions.”