The Barnesville Trojans saw their 26 game winning streak come to an end in the Class AA State Championship game on Friday at US Bank Stadium, falling to Eden Valley-Watkins, 24-6. The Eagles led 6-0 at halftime and completed their undefeated season by outscoring the Trojans 18-6 in the second half. Noah Geislinger threw for three scores and ran for another to lead the Eagles.
Eden Valley-Watkins had the only touchdown of the first half as Wyatt Moehrle hauled in a 7 yard TD pass from Geislinger at 7:52 of the first quarter.
Barnesville tied the game at 6:32 of the third quarter when Gannon Bolgrean ran the ball in from the 8 yard line, capping a 10 play, 64 yard drive.
Geislinger countered with a 36 yard TD run at 4:36 of the third, giving the Eagles a 12-16 advantage. They increased their lead to 18-6 when Geislinger connected with Moehrle again, this time on a 55 yard scoring toss with just 2:06 left in the quarter.
Moehrle’s third TD reception, this one covering 22 yards, came at 4:56 of the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Geislinger completed 7-of-13 passes for 111 yards and Moehrle hauled in 5 of the passes for 92 yards and 3 scores. Geislinger was the leading rusher with 82 yards on 17 carries. Eden Valley-Watkins had 278 total yards (167 rushing, 111 passing). Nolan Haag had 3 interceptions and Landon Nieman picked off a pass for the Eagles. Sonnie DeHeer recovered a fumble. Leading tacklers were Moehrle (8 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles), Parker Schultz (6 solo tackles, 5 assisted tackles) and Anthony Fink (3 solo tackles, 4 assisted tackles).
Bolgrean had 145 rushing yards on 20 carries and caught 3 passes for 16 yards to lead Barnesville. Zachary Bredman was 8-for-18 throwing the ball for 68 yards. The Trojans had a total of 245 yards (177 rushing, 68 passing). Defensive leaders were Bolgrean (6 solo tackles, 1 interception), Collin Morey (5 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle), Levi Eickenbrock (3 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles) and Peyton Amundson (3 solo tackles, 3 assisted tackles).