Bearcats defeat Gators, fall to Storm to end an exciting season of football

By Nick Johnson, assistant coach
KCC 35 — BGMR 16
The KCC Bearcats opened the postseason with a quarterfinal matchup against the Gators of Badger/Greenbush-Middle River.
The Bearcats entered the game as the No. 3 seed in the Section 8 playoffs with a record of 4-4. The Gators entered the game as the No. 6 seed with a record of 2-6. The two teams played each other eight weeks ago to open the season, with the Bearcats defeating the Gators 41-8. However, both teams have improved throughout the season, and contributed to an exciting matchup in Hallock.
KCC started the scoring on their opening possession of the game as Eli Peterson connected with Kellen Johnson on a 7-yard touchdown pass. However, the Gators responded a couple possessions later with a scoring drive of their own. Quarterback Will Foss capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, and after a successful 2-point conversion, the Gators had an 8-7 lead.
Eli Peterson tossed his second touchdown pass of the day, this time to Brody Scalese from 11 yards out. This would help the Bearcats reclaim the lead 14-8, which remained the score as the game entered the halftime break.
The Gators landed a big punch to open the second half, as they returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for the touchdown and retook the lead 16-14. The Bearcats didn’t stay behind for long. Eli Muir took the following kickoff return back 50 yards all the way to the Gator 30-yard line. Five plays later the Bearcats retook the lead 20-16 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Ashton Knutson.
From that point on it was all Bearcats, adding 2 touchdown passes from Quarterback Eli Peterson, his third and fourth of the day. He first connected with Brody Scalese on a 23-yard strike and minutes later found Eli Muir out of the backfield for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Peterson’s four touchdown passes tied him with the program record for touchdown passes in a game. These touchdowns combined with several key fourth down stops by the Bearcat defense, helped the team run away with a 35-16 victory over a tough Gators team.
With the victory, the Bearcats advanced to the Section 8, 9-man football semi finals.

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
KCC_Peterson 7-yard touchdown pass to Johnson (Brewer kick good)
2nd Quarter
BGMR_Foss 5-yard touchdown run (Foss pass to Davy good)
KCC_Peterson 11-yard touchdown pass to Scalese (Brewer kick good)
3rd Quarter
BGMR_ Gust 75-yard kick return touchdown (Davy run good)
KCC_Knutson 2-yard touchdown run (Brewer kick no good)
4th Quarter
KCC_Peterson 23-yard touchdown pass to Scalese (Knutson run good); Peterson 41-yard touchdown pass to Muir (Brewer kick good)

KCC Offensive Leaders
Passing_Eli Peterson: 9/11, 169 yards, 4 tds
Rushing_Ashton Knutson: 22 att, 102, 1 td
Eli Muir: 14 att, 52 yards
Receiving
Eli Muir: 2 rec, 61 yards, 1 td; Brody Scalese: 3 rec, 54 yds, 2 td; Kellen Johnson: 3 rec, 38 yds, 1 td

KCC Defensive Leaders
Brody Scalese: 9 tackles, 4 ast
Ashton Knutson: 4 tackles, 1 ast, 1 sack
Sam Webster: 3 tackles, 2 ast, 2 tfl
Kellen Johnson: 3 tackles, 2 ast, 1 tfl
Brock Scalese: 2 tackles, 2 tlf, 2 int, 2 pd

KCC 22 — SAC 44
The Kittson County Central Bearcats took on the Stephen-Argyle Central Storm in the semifinals of the Section 8, 9-man football playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 26 in Argyle. The Bearcats, the No. 3 seed, won their quarterfinal matchup against the BGMR Gators. The Storm, the No. 2 seed, won their quarterfinal matchup against the Northern Freeze.
The game did not start in the Bearcats’ favor, with many miscues and mistakes leading to big plays for the Storm. On the first possession of the game, the Storm blocked a punt by the Bearcats, which led to a 4-yard touchdown run by running back Blaine Smith and give the Storm an early 8-0 lead. Smith added another rushing touchdown from 21 yards out, giving SAC a 16-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bearcats had opportunities to respond in the second quarter, forcing a couple punts by the Storm. However, the offense was unable to capitalize on those opportunities due to turnovers and penalties that ended promising drives. Smith continued his impressive outing for the Storm adding another 2-yard touchdown run and building the lead to 22-0 going into the halftime break.
The third quarter brought much of the same outcomes for the Bearcats. Offensively, they were unable to put together any scoring drives, forcing the defense to spend more time on the field and surrender more points to the Storm. Blaine Smith added two more touchdowns in the third quarter alone, building the SAC lead to a commanding 37-0 margin.
The Bearcat offense eventually came alive in the fourth quarter. First, Eli Peterson scrambled for a 5-yard touchdown run, getting the Bearcats on the board and bringing the score to 37-8. Then Peterson found Kellen Johnson on a 19-yard touchdown pass trimming the lead down to 37-16. The Storm responded with Smith adding his sixth touchdown run of the day, expanding the lead again. The Bearcats added one final score with Peterson finding Ty Vig for an 11-yard touchdown pass, bringing the game to a final score of 44-22.
The game was characterized by missed opportunities and an inability to find footing early in the game for the Bearcats. Playing against a quality opponent like the Storm, it is important to execute the gameplan, something that eluded the Bearcats for the majority of the game on Saturday.

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
SAC_Smith 4-yard touchdown run (Benitt run good); Smith 21-yard touchdown run (Setterholm run good)
2nd Quarter
SAC_Smith 2-yard touchdown run (Setterholm pass no good)
3rd Quarter
SAC_Smith 3-yard touchdown run (Setterholm pass to Pagnac good); Smith 11-yard touchdown run (Rivard kick good)
4th Quarter
KCC_Peterson 5-yard touchdown run (Knutson run good); Peterson 19-yard touchdown pass to Johnson (Hemmes run no good)
SAC_Smith 34-yard touchdown run (Rivard kick good)
KCC_Peterson 11-yard pass to Vig (Muir run good)

KCC Offensive Leaders
Passing_Eli Peterson: 10/14, 129 yds, 2 td, 1 int
Rushing; Ashton Knutson: 22 att, 94 yds
Receiving; Kellen Johnson: 7 rec, 84 yds, 1 td; Eli Muir: 1 rec, 27 yds
Ty Vig: 1 rec, 11 yds, 1 td

KCC Defensive Leaders
Brody Scalese: 9 tackles, 6 ast
Ty Vig: 3 tackles, 5 ast
Ashton Knutson: 3 tackles, 3 ast, 1 tfl, 1 sack, 1 pd
Track Folland: 2 tackles, 3 ast
Kellen Johnson: 2 tackles, 1 ast