High School Football: Brainerd finishes regular season at home

Brainerd hopes to clinch a winning season for the first time since 2018 when they host Buffalo (2-5) Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Adamson Field.

The Warriors (4-3) are coming off a bye week. The last time Brainerd took the field it received a 51-14 thumping by Rogers.

Buffalo last week faced the same Rogers team and lost 31-13.

“Brainerd is a team we haven’t played a ton except for a couple of times the last few years,” Buffalo head coach Craig Lachowitzer said. “It’s a team we have historically matched up with competitive games outside of last year. So I’m looking forward to a hard-fought physical game that Brainerd is known for.”

Last year, the two teams faced each other on the last day of the regular season with the Warriors earning a 42-13 victory in the rain.

The Bison are led by quarterback Grady Guida, who is their leading passer and rusher.

In seven games, Guida has thrown for 1,285 yards and nine touchdowns on 58.2 completion percentage. He’s also thrown 10 interceptions which could play into the Warriors’ hands. Brainerd has picked off an opposing QB in all but one game this season.

Guida has rushed for 250 yards and four touchdowns on 75 carries for Buffalo as well.

“They have some good athletes on the offensive side,” Warriors head coach Jason Freed said. “The quarterback is a good athlete and ranked up there with the better athletes we’ve seen at quarterback. He runs around well and throws the ball well. Then he has good skill players that he throws the ball to.”

Ty Kosek is the Bison’s leading receiver with 46 catches for 545 yards and four touchdowns. Buffalo has four receivers with over 100 yards on the season in Brody Wishart, Gauge Alsen and Zach Salonek.

“We are a spread team that will throw the ball quite a bit,” Lachowitzer said. “We will mix in the run to keep teams honest, but we have dealt with some injuries up front with our linemen that have kind of made it difficult for us to get the run game going.”

The key defensive players for Buffalo are middle linebackers Trenton Radloff and Wyatt Osterbauer.

Radloff leads the Bison with 72 total tackles and Osterbauer has 55. Both will be key in stopping the Warriors’ running attack.

“Brainerd has a very good running attack and a tremendous running back,” Lachowitzer said. “He is a guy that we are going to have to stop and as the weeks have gone on it seems their passing game has improved as well. So offensively, Brainerd looks like a team that continues to improve so we will have our hands full.”

Brainerd running back Damien Bentho is third in the state in carries with 180 and 17th in the state in yards with 942 according to the Minnesota Football Hub website.

“I think (Buffalo’s) front seven is pretty good on defense,” Freed said. “They are aggressive. A 3-4 football team. I like the look of their inside linebackers. So it will be a good test for our kids.”

Last year, Brainerd used the passing game to beat Buffalo. Quarterback Marcello Getty threw for 161 yards and four touchdowns in the win last year.

The running game wasn’t bad either with Nathaniel Staehling rushing for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Freed would like to have that same balance Wednesday night.

“I felt last year Buffalo might’ve been our best game of the year in terms of being complete in all three phases,” Freed said. “I’d like to see us end the season on that note as we head into the playoffs.”

Brainerd returns to the comforts of home, a place they haven’t played for almost a month when they beat Bemidji 19-7 Sept. 23.

“It feels like an eternity since we’ve had a home game,” Freed said. “It'll be nice to be home. It’ll be great to recognize our seniors. Anytime you can be home on MEA to wrap up the regular season is good.”

Brainerd has a seeding meeting for the Class 6A Playoffs Thursday, Oct. 20, and will find out who its opponent is Friday, Oct. 21.

CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.

Brainerd hosts Buffalo
When: 7 p.m.
Where: at Brainerd High School
Series: Brd leads 5-2
Last result: Brd won 42-13 in 2021
Twitter: @the_rad34
Radio: KLIZ-AM (1380)
Web Stream: www.kliz.com.