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Improved Bemidji visits BHS
Sports Editor What appears to be an improved Bemidji Lumberjacks team will provide the opposition at the Brainerd Warriors home opener Friday night.
The Lumberjacks are riding high after defeating Willmar 25-12 last week, their first opening night win since 2001, which coincidentally was the last time Bemidji had a winning season.
Bemidji scored three times in the fourth quarter to overcome a 12-7 deficit. In the second half the Lumberjacks intercepted two passes and limited Willmar to 54 yards.
"Our kids played well, particularly in the second half," Bemidji coach Dwight Jensen said. "Our defense did a solid job, and our offense started clicking."
Senior quarterback Simon Anderson clicked on 12 of 24 passes for 149 yards. He scored on keepers of 25 yards and one yard in the fourth, sandwiched around Nate McGriff's 5-yard touchdown run.
Anderson is one of six players returning on offense from a team that went 3-5 in the regular season before losing to Alexandria 22-14 in the section quarterfinals. Six players also return on defense.
"I know they're real excited about their team, and they ought to be," Warriors coach Ron Stolski said. "They've got a number of experienced players. I expected them to be good. This is not a surprise to me.'
McGriff, fullback Travis Greenwaldt, receivers Joe Kingery and Alex Hengel and center Evan Olson also return on offense.
Defensively, the Lumberjacks return linebackers Greenwaldt and Olson, lineman Jared Hertel and defensive backs Kingery, Trace Jahner and Czar Woods.
"Potentially, I think we're getting there, especially with the number of starters we have," Jensen said. "It's our third year here. I think they're understanding the system better, and there's starting to be more commitment to football. I think we're improved from last year."
Brainerd is looking for improvement after a 17-14 loss to St. Cloud Tech in which it rushed for 147 yards and passed for 128.
"The old coaching clichˇ is things are not as good as they seem, and they're never as bad as they seem," Stolski said. "I was very pleased with our effort, I was not pleased with our performance.
"Physically, (the offensive line was) kind of impressive. I think we have a right to expect the offensive line is going to be one of our strong points. I think the overall team performance needs to, and will, sharpen up."
Brainerd was sharp on defense, forcing two fumbles and allowing 277 yards, just 51 passing by highly touted Tech senior quarterback Adam Johnson. Eleven of the 17 points Tech scored were on special teams.
"We have some nice experience back but in some really key positions we have very little, like at linebacker and quarterback, but I thought as the game went on we grew there," Stolski said. "Like I've said before there's nothing like (Class) 5A football experience."
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.
The matchup
Brainerd Warriors (0-1)
Offense
QB: 15-Scott Ramey, 18-Reid Mimmack
RB: 40-Colby Ring, 27-Jon Wiese, 36-Carsten Nelson, 33-Nate Smolke, 26-Chris Swanson, 34-Jaron Hanson, 32-Taylor Main
WR: 82-Mike Gervenak, 5-Ben Gervais, 14-Tyler Kline, 84-TJ Struss, 83-Dylan Wheeler
OT: 67-David Titus, 74-Jared Erickson, 66-Pat Metzler
G: 61-Tyler Blong, 78-Mitch Weideman, 73-Taylor Hradsky
C: 63-Clint Dwire, 73-Hradsky
TE: 80-Cole Stegora, 88-Aaron Pavek, 89-Dennis Summers
Defense
DL: 91-Nick Boettcher, 92-Cody Granley, 88-Pavek, 93-Sam Lastovich, 43-Chad Ohman, 72-Dan Wheeler, 76-Kris Garin
OLB: 22-Andy Mans, 41-Alex Rahn, 23-Barry Nelson, 21-Chris Moon, 38-Bruce London, 38-Caleb Goodew, 24-Austin Metzger
ILB: 40-Ring, 54-Sam Pagel, 42-Jordan Goos, 46-Cooper Aakhus, 47-Jaime Barry, 18-Mimmack, 32-Main
CB: 17-Desmond Janousek, 20-Kyle Crocker, 31-Logan Stall, 30-Nate Gervenak, 5-Gervais
FS: 11-Tate Rusk, 16-Mike Wisniewski, 20-Crocker
Special teams
KR: 20-Crocker, 17-Janousek, 84-Struss
P: 15-Ramey
KO/PK: 48-Brian Sexton
Bemidji Lumberjacks (1-0)
Offense
QB-10-Simon Anderson
FB-21-Travis Greenwaldt
HB-5-Nate McGriff
TE-26-Dan Sadek
WR-7-Joe Kingery
WR-1-Alex Hengel
OL-51-Evan Olson
OL-74-Jared Hertel
OL-54-Jake Gruber
OL-72-Josh Smith
C-63-Austin Zetah
Defense
CB-22-Czar Woods
CB-6-Carey Woods
S-9-Trace Jahner
S-7-Kingery
LB-21-Greenwaldt
LB-51-Olson
LB-26-Sadek
LB-11-Cody Fear
DL-74-Hertel
DL-57-Andrew Cable
DL-63-Zetah
Special teams
P-1-Alex Hengel
PK-21-Greenwaldt
Warriors schedule
AUGUST
29: at St. Cloud Tech, L, 17-14
SEPTEMBER
5: BEMIIDJI, 7 p.m.
12-WILLMAR, 7 p.m.
19: at Moorhead, 7 p.m.
26: at St. Cloud Apollo, 7 p.m.
OCTOBER
4: ALEXANDRIA, 3 p.m.
10: at Fergus Falls, 7 p.m.
15: SARTELL, 7 p.m.
Central Lakes Conference
Conf All
St. Cloud Tech 1-0 1-0
Sartell 1-0 1-0
Sauk Rapids 1-0 1-0
Rocori 1-0 1-0
Fergus Falls 0-0 1-0
Willmar 0-0 0-1
Brainerd 0-1 0-1
Alexandria 0-1 0-1
St. Cloud Apollo 0-1 0-1
Little Falls 0-1 0-1
Friday's games
Fergus Falls at Willmar, 7 p.m.
Rocori at Little Falls, 7 p.m.
Sauk Rapids at Apollo, 7 p.m.
Tech at Sartell, 7 p.m.
Section 8, Class 5A
All Pts
St. Cloud Tech 1-0 3
Elk River 1-0 3
Buffalo 1-0 2
Bemidji 1-0 2
Brainerd 0-1 0
Alexandria 0-1 0
Moorhead 0-1 0
Note: 3 points for wins vs. 5A schools, 2 points for wins against other classes.
Friday's games
Bemidji at Brainerd, 7 p.m.
Alexandria at Moorhead, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at St. Michael-Albertville
Elk River at Park Center, 7 p.m.
Warriors statistics
ONE GAME
RUSHING Att Yds Avg TD
Colby Ring 16 61 3.8 1
Scott Ramey 16 53 3.3 1
Carsten Nelsen 5 24 4.8 0
Nate Smolke 4 9 2.3 0
Kyle Crocker 1 0 0.0 0
PASSING Com Att Yds TD
Scott Ramey 8 21 128 0
RECEIVING No Yds Avg TD
Mike Gervenak 3 24 8.0 0
Ben Gervais 1 16 16.0 0
Kyle Crocker 1 12 12.0 0
Colby Ring 3 71 23.7 0
Jon Weise 1 5 5.0 0
SCORING TD 2PT EPK TP
Colby Ring 1 0 0 6
Scott Ramey 1 0 0 6
Brian Sexton 0 0 2 2
Fumble recoveries (2): Cody Granley, Tate Rusk
Season tackle leaders: Boettcher 16 tackles, Ring 14, Mans 11
Points per game average: Brainerd 14.0, opposition 17.0
Yards per game average: Brainerd 275.0, opposition 277.0
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