Tristan Tungland, above, was upended while running the ball in the third quarter of the Bucs’ 22-14 victory over the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms on Friday, Sept. 5. BEA traveled to Janesville for a game on Friday, Sept. 12
The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers football team overcame a 14-8 halftime deficit to stun Blooming Prairie and defeat the Awesome Blossoms 22-14 in a game played at Wilson Field in Blue Earth on Friday, Sept. 5.
Tied 14-14 heading into the fourth quarter, Blooming Prairie had the ball five yards away from scoring the go-ahead touchdown when BEA’s Tate Elzenga intercepted a pass by the Blossoms’ Gabe Staloch at the Bucs’ four-yard line and returned the ball 56 yards across midfield to Blooming Prairie’s 44 yard line.
BEA quarterback Caden Juba then rushed the ball five straight times, including a run of 18 yards, to move the ball down to the four-yard line. Omar Gomez took the ball in from there running behind his offensive line to score the touchdown.
Juba then completed a pass to Peter Fletcher in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion and a 22-14 Buccaneer lead.
The Blossoms took the ensuing kickoff and marched the ball all the way down to the Bucs’ 11-yard line. However, three incomplete passes and a three-yard run by Staloch left Blooming Prairie short of the first down and turned the ball back to BEA.
The Maroon and Gold moved the ball out to their own 42-yard line before a holding penalty caused their drive to stall and force a punt back to Blooming Prairie.
Unfortunately, the punt did not go far and the Blossoms took over in Buccaneer territory on the 39-yard line.
Blooming Prairie moved the ball down to the 25-yard line before the BEA defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs with less than two minutes to play. The Bucs were able to run out the clock with Juba taking a knee three times.
“I was really proud of the determination the guys showed,” BEA coach Randy Kuechenmeister said after the game. “They kept hanging in there and battling.”
Kuechenmeister shared he felt the Bucs played better as the game went along.
“We started getting more confidence and that made a difference,” the BEA mentor commented. “It was a great win and they showed a lot of grit and determination.”
The fourth quarter wasn’t the only time when the BEA defense rose to the occasion when needed. In the first quarter on their second drive of the game, Blooming Prairie put together a time consuming drive that took them all the way down to the BEA one-yard line with a first down.
Four times the Blossoms tried to get into the end zone and four times the Bucs stopped them which turned the ball back to BEA.
Blooming Prairie eventually scored the first points of the game on a five-play, 36-yard drive. The extra-point kick was good and with 3:11 left to go in the second quarter, the Blossoms led 7-0.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Bucs needed only four plays to cover 60 yards for a touchdown. The big play in the drive came when Juba broke to the outside and raced down the Blossoms’ sideline for a 42-yard gain down to the 10-yard line. One play later BEA scored and Gomez ran the ball in for a two-point conversion and an 8-7 Buccaneer lead.
With not much time remaining in the opening half it looked like the Bucs would take a one-point lead into the intermission. However, the Blossoms returned the Bucs’ kickoff for a touchdown and their extra-point kick was good so it was Blooming Prairie that held a 14-8 lead midway through the game.
BEA tied the game at 14-14 in the third quarter. Gomez ran the ball into the end zone from four yards out to cap off an 11-play 80-yard drive. The Bucs’ extra-point try failed which left the game tied until BEA’s fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Bucs tallied 292 yards of total offense compared to 259 for the Blossoms. BEA gained 252 yards on the ground and 40 through the air while Blooming Prairie rushed for 98 yards and threw for 161.
The Blossoms ran 59 plays to 45 for the Bucs. BEA was penalized 11 times for 89 yards while Blooming Prairie had four penalties for 40 yards.
Juba led the Bucs with 221 yards rushing on 26 attempts and 40 yards passing while completing six of seven pass attempts.
Tristan Tungland had 20 yards on five carries and Gomez had 15 yards on three carries. Timmy Nagel caught two balls for 12 yards.
Nagel was the leading tackler with 11, Gomez had nine tackles, Hayden Prestegard and Sully Dahlberg each had six and Tristan Tungland had five.
Elzenga had the Bucs’ only interception.