“I felt we came out with good intensity again tonight,” said Barnesville Head Coach Byran Strand.  “We started off a bit slow but turned it around quickly, offensively.  I felt our defense was very good all night long, we hit hard, followed our assignments very well and tackled better than we have been.”  

The Trojans took the opening kick and in 9 plays scored their first TD of the night when Preston Snobl hooked up with Hunter Zenzen for a 24 yard TD pass. The 2 point try was good by Chase Brenner on a nice run.  The Barnesville defense shut the Vikings down on three plays and forced a punt.  Their 2nd drive of the night started off at the 43 yard line, Snobl again found Zenzen for a nice 19 yard pass, then a few nice runs by Nick Detloff and Snobl and then Kellen Hinsz took it in from 16 yards out. Fhe two point conversion was good when Snobl found Chase Brenner to make the score 16-0.  The final scoring of the first quarter came when Chase Brenner returned the Pelican Rapids punt 65 yards for a TD and Hunter Anderson ran in the 2 point conversion, putting the score at the end of the first quarter at 24-0. 

The 2nd quarter got going well for Barnesville as they stopped the Vikings again after four plays and then took the ball from the 44 yard line and in 5 plays put it in the end zone.  This time it was Sam Askegaard finding Hunter Zenzen for a great 27 yard pass and catch. After a failed 2 point conversion run the score read 30-0.  Pelican's next possession started at the 33 yard line and again the defense did a nice job holding them to 2 yards before forcing a punt. Barnesville ran the ball 9 times and then Askegaard found Preston Snobl on a nice TD pass from the 11 yard line. The 2 point conversion run by Brenner was good and the score was now 38-0.  The last play of the half saw a Pelican Rapids pass get intercepted by Chase Brenner who made a great play on the ball and returned from the 15 yard line all the way back to the opposing 45 yard line. 

“The 2nd half went quickly, we had subs in the entire time on offense and the starters on D played one series,” commented Coach Strand.  “By agreement from the coaches we went to running time in the 2nd half.” 

The half started off with Barnesville kicking to Pelican Rapids. On the on the 1st play of the 2nd half, Preston Snobl made a great cut on the ball, picked it off and ran it in from 39 yards out. The 2 point conversion was good by Snobl, putting the score at 46-0.  Not much offense was had the rest of the quarter and in the fourth quarter, freshman RB Cameron Heng had a beautiful 28 yard TD run and Snobl added the extra point kick to make the final score 53-0.

“Both teams were content in just running the ball and getting the game over with,” said Strand.  “I felt our kids played well, our penalties were down and our execution for the most part is getting better.  Glad to come away with the win and more importantly we came out healthy.  The best thing is that everyone that dressed got into the game and got some varsity experience.”

Thirteen different players carried the ball for the Trojans. They were led by Detloff with 62 yards on 9 carries and Brenner with 40 yards on 8 attempts. Barnesville had a total of 237 yards rushing on 39 carries. Snobl was 3-for-3 throwing the ball for 44 yards and a TD, while Askegaard went 2-for-3 for 38 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Zenzen caught four passes for 71 yards and two TDs.

The Barnesville defense allowed only one first down in the game and held Pelican Rapids to a total of 49 offensive yards. Matt Samuelson had the only sack of the night and Adam Tonsfeldt recovered a fumble and recorded six tackles. Snobl also had six tackles to go along with his interception.  Joey Mark added 5 tackles.

“We have Roseau this week and we hope to get Jackson Poepping back in the lineup,” added Strand. “We should be looking at getting Adam Tonsfeldt back on offense again in the next week or two.  The boys are playing well, but we always have things we can improve on.  We have some tough games coming up including Crookston in 2 weeks and then Hawley in 3 followed by finishing the year with Breckenridge at home.”