Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth quarterback David Top (12) runs for a gain against Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster during Friday's section championship football game in Hills. Top ran for the final touchdown in a 21-0 victory that clinched a berth in the state tournament for the Patriots.
By John Rittenhouse
A stout defensive performance carried the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team to its first section championship since 1997 Friday night in Hills.
With the Patriot resistance leading the way by recording a shutout, H-BC-E won the Section 2 Nine-Man Football title for the first time in four years with a convincing 21-0 victory over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster.
The win gives the 10-0 Patriots a berth in the quarterfinal round of the Minnesota State High School Nine-Man Football Tournament.
H-BC-E will play 7-4 Fergus Falls Hillcrest Lutheran Academy at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Fergus Falls.
If the Patriots can turn in another solid defensive performance like the one they used to blank SV-RL-B, the FFHLA Comets will be in for a long afternoon.
A big SV-RL-B squad wanted to assert itself physically against the Patriots like they did the first time the teams met in Hills Oct. 5, but the H-BC-E players were not intimidated.
In fact, the Patriots learned some lessons from their 21-20 win early in October that helped them blank the Raiders in the section title tilt.
"We did a really good job of covering their power running plays," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson.
"They hurt us with their power running the first time we played them. We moved our defensive ends inside a little bit more Friday, and they did a good job of forcing SV-RL-B to run outside. We made Paplow (Ryan, SV-RL-B's tailback) run laterally instead of straight ahead, and that is not his strong point."
SV-RL-B's running game was supposed to be its strength, but a spirited defensive performance by the Patriots held the Raiders in check. SV-RL-B was limited to 81 rushing yards and six first downs for the night.
"We played really well defensively. They didn't get their first first down of the second half until their very last possession. They had six first downs overall, three in the first half, and three in the second half," Ellingson said.
The Raiders matched H-BC-E's defensive intensity during a scoreless first quarter, but a key special-teams play by the Patriots in the second quarter set the stage for a 14-point burst that gave the hosts a comfortable lead at the intermission.
After forcing the Patriots to punt, the Raiders opened the door of opportunity for H-BC-E when the SV-RL-B return man, who was signaling for a fair catch, had the ball carom off his body.
H-BC-E senior Matt Buck recovered the loose ball on the Raider 35, and Patriot quarterback David Top tossed a 31-yard pass to Brad Haak that gave the hosts a first down at the Raider two-yard line three plays later. Fullback Lyle DeBoer covered the remaining two yards on the next play, and the first of three extra points by Tyler Bush gave H-BC-E a 7-0 lead.
"A big play by one of our special teams really turned things around. Buck recovered the fumbled punt, and we scored four plays later," Ellingson said.
Chris Reid, who has made a number of big plays from his tailback position this fall, produced another one before the first half was complete.
Reid, who carried the ball 24 times for 162 yards in the game, broke a long one when he dashed 59 yards for a touchdown with 1:05 remaining in the second quarter. Bush's kick made it a 14-0 difference.
The Patriots put the game out of reach on the second play of the fourth quarter, when Top capped a drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Bush’s extra point ended the scoring.
H-BC-E will face a different type of offense when it travels to Fergus Falls to face the Comets Saturday.
"They run 90 percent of their plays out of the shotgun formation," Ellingson said. "They'll spread a defense out by using three wide outs, and they'll run the ball out of the shotgun. They are a quick team that has an excellent quarterback and a very good wide receiver. It should be a good match-up for us."
FFHLA stumbled out of the starting blocks this year by losing its first three games, but it went 7-1 since then.
One of the Comets' early-season losses came against Chokio-Alberta-Herman-Norcross, a team that was ranked No. 2 in the last state football poll. FFHLA gained revenge for a 31-6 early-season loss to C-A-H-N by beating the Spartans 22-14 in the Section 3 championship game last Thursday.
"They are a good team that is peaking at the right time," Ellingson said of the Comets.
Team statistics
H-BC-E: 204 rushing yards, 54 passing yards, 258 total yards, nine first downs, seven penalties for 60 yards, one turnover.
SV-RL-B: 81 rushing yards, 72 passing yards, 153 total yards, six first downs, four penalties for 40 yards, three turnovers.
Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 24-162, L.DeBoer 13-22, Jesse Leuthold 2-11, Top 2-6, Chris Tiesler 1-6, Kevin Van Batavia 1-minus 3.
Passing: Top 4-9 for 54 yards, Receiving: Haak 2-32, Darin DeBoer 1-14, Brant Deutsch 1-8.
Defense: Curt Schilling 23 tackles, L.DeBoer eight tackles, Kyle Braun eight tackles and one sack, Leuthold seven tackles, D.DeBoer four tackles and one interception, Buck two tackles and one fumble recovery, Deutsch one tackle and one sack, Lee Walraven one sack, Tiesler one fumble recovery.