Along with an abundance of turf fields at high schools across the state this year comes the no-huddle spread offense that almost every team seems to be running.
The Willmar Cardinals and Brainerd Warriors will both employ the no-huddle spread when the teams converge on Adamson Field Friday night. Willmar is coming off a 41-6 spanking of Sauk Rapids while the Warriors are a week removed from a 30-6 opening win over Fergus Falls.
"It's fun to see," Willmar coach Jon Konold said of the no-huddle. "When people do the same thing, sometimes it kind of becomes a little stale. If you change, the kids get energized. It's a fun challenge."
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Warriors vs. Willmar
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- When: 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5
- Where: Adamson Field, Brainerd
- The series: Brainerd leads 26-17
- Last meeting: Brainerd won 21-7 in 2013
- Twitter: @bertsballpark
- Radio: KLIZ-AM (1380)
- Web stream: www.brainerdradio.net .
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Warriors coach Ron Stolski said the team's offenses will mirror each other but the difference is Willmar returns 13 starters, several on offense, and Brainerd just two offensive starters.
"It will be Brainerd's defense against Willmar's high-powered offense," Stolski said. "They scored a lot of points (326) last year other than our game (a 21-7 Willmar loss). They averaged almost 40 points a game (36.2)."
Key Cardinal returning include running back Michael Heitzman, an all-conference player last year. Against Sauk Rapids he rushed for 136 yards and a TD.
Quarterback Auggie Hahn, another all-conference selection, rushed for 86 yards and two scores and completed 13 of 20 passes for 123 yards.
Wide receiver Austin Grove had seven receptions for two TDs and tight end Max Trochlil added four catches.
"The big thing is we bring four of five offensive line starters back that saw significant playing time last year, along with those skill kids," Konold said. "And we have some decent size on the offensive and defensive lines. Hopefully we can keep those guys fresh and rotate them to help build more depth, and the first game we saw a couple more kids who can play, and hopefully that helps with depth."
The Warriors piled up 387 yards of total offense in their opener. They passed for 156 and rushed for 231. The defense forced one turnover, recorded four sacks and surrendered just 114 total yards.
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About the only negative was 11 penalties for 105 yards.
"We have to keep in mind that we're a very inexperienced team," Stolski said, "particularly on offense, and we've got a new kicker, a new punter and our return teams are new.
"We don't blame the officials for enforcing the rules, but penalties aside the game was all right. The kids played very hard on both sides. All the kids who got in played hard, and that's all you can ask of your team. If you're not getting the effort, or if you're making silly assignment mistakes, then you can be disappointed.
"We were happy enough but we know that's behind us. The game we're focused on is this one - period."
LINEUPS
Brainerd Warriors
OFFENSE
QB: 16-Evan Brecht, 10-Hanson Devine, 2-Chris Pederson, 95-Josh Howieson
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RB: 15-Paul Augustinack, 21-Allan Jevning, 40-Mitch Rahn, 33-Zach Winger, 22-Cooper Tollefson, 20-Chris Veith, 25-Tim O'Reilly, 18-Colton Borg
TE: 90-Ted Nelson, 95-Josh Howieson
WR: 81-Quinn McElfresh, 8-Cole Spieker, 5-Steven Severson, 2-Chris Pederson, 85-Brady Kline, 84-Jordan Whitehead, 88-Devan Fiedler, 82-Riley Fabian
T: 73-Eric Uphoff, 63-Kyler Kennedy, 60-Michael Horton, 71-Ryan Powers
G: 60-Michael Horton, 61-Clayton Caird, 76-Zach Rude, 51-Seth Desrocher
C: 62-Jon Bostrom, 61-Clayton Caird
DEFENSE
DL: 90-Ted Nelson, 56-Matt Thompson, 95-Josh Howieson, 96-Nick Stettler, 58-Jared Winter, 57-Zach Stangl, 54-Dylan Crandall
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OLB: 12-Cole Sellnow, 35-Cole DeRosier, 34-Arron Martin, 88-Devan Fiedler, 48-Mike Eschenbacher, 36-C.J. Wohl, 30-Kolt Herron
ILB: 41-Taylor Streiff, 42-Anthony Cory, 55-Tristan Brecht, 53-Jordan Jarmuzak
CB: 7-Jaquon Cogshell, 27-Matt Hill, 14-Isaiah Stewart, 24-Nick Peterson, 23-Cole Harmer
S: 43-Hayden Bukowski, 32-Will Stolski, 11-Adam Fischer, 27-Matt Hill
SPECIAL TEAMS
Punter: 2-Chris Pederson, 27-Matt Hill
PK-KO: 89-David Saxum, 4-Isaiah Stewart
Holder: 16-Evan Brecht
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KO/punt return: 2-Chris Pederson, 21-Allan Jevning, 7-Jaquon Cogshell, 81-Quinn McElfresh, 8-Cole Spieker, 20-Chris Veith
Long snapper: 36-C.J. Wohl
Willmar Cardinals
OFFENSE
QB: 5-Auggie Hahn
RB: 7-Michael Heitzman
RB: 19-Sam Kerfeld
RB: 30-Vaughn Johnson
WR: 1-Levi Stankey
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WR: 3-Eli Gunderson
WR: 11-Colten Carlson
WR: 17-Max Doering
WR: 88-Austin Grove
TE: 9-Max Trochlil
LT: 50-Matt Morales
LG: 77-Brady Reigstad
C: 75-Alex Khalil
RG: 78-Matt Hennes
RT: 63-Joel Engel
DEFENSE
DE: 62-Gunner Raths
NG: 63-Joel Engel
DE: 75-Alex Khalil
ILB: 30-Vaughn Johnson
ILB: 85-Cole Gau
OLB: 7-Michael Heitzman
OLB: 90-Zach Randolph
CB: 2-Carter Sack
CB: 3-Eli Gunderson
SS: 82-Travis Deegan
FS: 11-Colten Carlson
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker: 9-Max Trochlil
Punter: 10-Zach Radermacher
Warriors regular season
Aug 29, Fergus Falls - WON 30-6
Sept. 5, Willmar 7 p.m. (BYAA Night)
Sept. 12, at Alexandria 7 p.m.
Sept. 19, at St. Cloud Apollo 7 p.m.
Sept. 27, St. Cloud Tech 2 p.m. (homecoming)
Oct. 3, at Bemidji 7 p.m.
Oct. 10, Moorhead 7 p.m.
Oct. 15, at Grand Rapids 7 p.m.
Central Lakes Conference
North Division
Div All
Brainerd 1-0 1-0
Bemidji 1-0 1-0
Moorhead 1-0 1-0
Alexandria 0-1 0-1
Fergus Falls 0-1 0-1
Grand Rapids 0-1 0-1
South Division Final
St. Cloud Apollo 1-0 1-0
Sartell 1-0 1-0
Willmar 1-0 1-0
Rocori 0-1 0-1
St. Cloud Tech 0-1 0-1
Sauk Rapids 0-1 0-1
Aug. 29 Games
Brainerd 30, Fergus Falls 6
Moorhead 18, Alexandria 13
Grand Rapids at Bemidji
Apollo 19, Rocori 14
Sartell 33, Tech 19
Willmar 41, Sauk Rapids 6
Friday's Games
Willmar at Brainerd
Rocori at Fergus Falls
Apollo at Moorhead
Bemidji at Sauk Rapids
Alexandria at Sartell
Grand Rapids at Tech
Section 7, Class 5A
Sect All
St. Francis 1-0 1-0
Brainerd 0-0 1-0
Bemidji 0-0 1-0
Cambridge-Isanti 0-0 1-0
Chisago Lakes 0-0 1-0
Duluth East 0-1 0-1
Aug. 28 result
St. Francis 55, Duluth East 0
Aug. 29 results
Brainerd 30, Fergus Falls 6
Bemidji 49, Grand Rapids 0
Cambridge-Isanti 33, Duluth Denfeld 0
Chisago Lakes 28, Big Lake 23
Friday's Games
Willmar at Brainerd
St. Michael-Albertville at St. Francis
Bemidji at Sauk Rapids
Duluth East at Cambridge
Duluth Denfeld vs. Chisago Lakes at Lindstrom
Warriors statistics
ONE GAME
RUSHING Att Yds Avg TD
Evan Brecht 11 70 6.4 0
Mitch Rahn 12 63 5.3 3
Allen Jevning 6 38 6.3 0
Zach Winger 6 24 4.0 0
Chris Veith 3 18 6.0 0
P. Augustinack 3 11 3.7 0
Colton Borg 1 10 10.0 0
Chris Pederson 6 1 0.2 0
Hanson Devine 1 1 1.0 0
C. Tollefson 2 -1 0.5 0
Team 1 -4 x x
PASSING Com Att Yds TD
Hanson Devine 5 10 76 0
Evan Brecht 5 7 48 0
Chris Pederson 2 2 32 1
RECEIVING No Yds Avg TD
Q. McElfresh 5 75 15.0 0
Cole Spieker 4 59 14.8 1
Steven Severson 2 11 5.5 0
Chris Pederson 1 11 11.0 0
SCORING TD 2PT EPK TP
Mitch Rahn 3 0 0 18
Cole Spieker 1 0 0 6
Allen Jevning 0 1 0 2
David Saxum 0 0 2 2
Defense-Safety 0 0 0 2
DEFENSE
Forced fumbles: Cory
Fumble recoveries: Jordan Jarmuzak,
Blocked extra point: Crandall
Sacks: Nelson 2, Cory, Sellnow
Pass breakups: C. DeRosier, Cogshell
Tackles vs. Fergus Falls: Stolski 14, Cory 12, Sellnow 12, Nelson 10, Bukowski 9, Streiff 9, C. DeRosier 8, Jarmuzak 8
Points per-game average: Brainerd 30.0, opposition 6.0
Yards per game average: Brainerd 387.0, opposition 114.0
