The Belmond-Klemme football team built up a 28-0 lead in the first half and limited an AGWSR second half comeback to bring home their first win 28-12 in Class A District 2 play on Friday, as aired on 99 The Wave.
B-K set the tone for the first half with a 99 yard opening drive, capped off by a 37 yard touchdown reception by Griffin Paulsen. The Broncos added to their lead with a 10 yard touchdown run by Brody Heifner to go up 13-0 early in the second quarter. The Broncos marched to the endzone two more times before halftime, with a three yard touchdown run by Ruben Guido followed by a two point conversion by Kysen Lamb and a 18 yard touchdown reception by Jackson Johanns to take a 28-0 lead into the half. AGWSR found a rhythm offensively to kickoff the third quarter, with a 16 play run heavy drive that elapsed 8:12 and ended with a five yard touchdown run by Eli Holmgaard. It was the Cougars first score of the season. The Cougars defense kept the Broncos off the board in the second half. Eli Homgaard sprinted to the endzone with a 30 yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-12 with 2:15 to go. Broncos Head Coach Josh Faaborg on the team’s fast start offensively, aided by time to create for quarterback Brody Heifner.
“Any win is a good win. We got off to a really hot start. We put up 28 in the first half, and it was 28-0 at halftime. Proud of our kids for being ready to go, answering the call and finally getting off to a fast start. We’ve kind of been gaining momentum in the second half and haven’t really had the output we’ve been looking for in the first. It was nice to get out to a comfortable lead to start, that made it a much different game,” says Faaborg. “We protected him fairly well and allowed him to find some guys downfield. He performed well. The offensive line made some big improvements this week in terms of going to the whistle and getting downfield.”
Heifner passed for 196 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another touchdown. Paulsen had 79 receiving yards and a touchdown to lead the Broncos. AGWSR Head Coach James Koop on what helped the team bounce back in the second half.
“We got our first points of the year and that’s a big deal because that’s one of those negative clouds that you’d like to get off of your head. Our kids, the whole second half, had great body language, had great communication. The kids got their minds right, started focusing on football and not about the negative things that had happened. We started focusing on what we can take care of and the positives going forward,” says Koop. “We won the second half 12-0. It’s not because Belmond quit playing, it’s because we started playing up to our capability. The only thing that’s disappointing to me is that we didn’t put four quarters together because it could have gone either way at the end then.”
Holmgaard had 142 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
AGWSR (0-3, 0-2 A-2) will travel to West Fork. Belmond-Klemme (1-2, 1-1 A-2) will host Lake Mills for homecoming in Week 4.
