BEA’s Peter Fletcher races to the end zone for the final touchdown of the game in the Bucs’ 50-34 victory over the Hayfield Vikings. Fletcher’s 61-yard touchdown pass reception secured the win for BEA.
In what was one of the wildest and most unusual games to be played at Wilson Field in recent history, the host Blue Earth Area Bucs held on to defeat the Hayfield Vikings 50-34 on Friday, Sept. 19.
How wacky was it? Well, barely a minute and a half into the game the Bucs had a 12-0 lead and their offense hadn’t even set foot on the field.
The Vikings received the opening kick and returned it to their own 31-yard line. On their first play from scrimmage BEA’s Tristan Tungland ripped the ball out of the hands of the Hayfield running back and ran the ball in for a touchdown.
After failing to convert the extra point, the Bucs kicked off again and the Vikings took over at their own 36-yard line. After running the ball for no gain on the first play of their drive, Hayfield attempted a pass on their next play and BEA’s Caden Juba stepped in front of the Vikings’ receiver to intercept the pass at the 39-yard line for a pick six and a 12-0 lead for the Maroon and Gold.
So, with less than two minutes having run off the game clock, BEA’s Timmy Nagel kicked off for the third time in the game. This time the Hayfield kick returner took the ball to the house to cut BEA’s lead in half at 12-6.
Following the ensuing kickoff, the Buccaneer offense finally took the field at their own 19-yard line. On the ninth play of the drive, quarterback Juba took the ball across the goal line for a TD to give BEA an 18-6 lead. Following a successful two-point conversion on a pass to Peter Fletcher, the Bucs had extended their advantage to 20-6 over the Vikings.
Hayfield’s offense mounted a five-play 50-yard drive to score again but missed the extra point. The score was now 20-12 with BEA still on top.
The next drive by the Bucs resulted in a punt and the Vikings took the ball and marched it down to the BEA 19-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
One play later, Juba got through the first wave of would-be tacklers and then sprinted down the home team’s sideline for an 81-yard touchdown run with 4.5 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. The extra point was no good and the first quarter ended with BEA leading 26-12.
In the second quarter Juba ran for a touchdown of 29 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Peter Fletcher for 19 yards. The two-point conversions were successful following both TDs and it looked like the Bucs would head into the intermission with a 42-12 lead. However, a touchdown late in the second quarter and a successful extra-point kick narrowed the BEA advantage to 42-19.
Hayfield added seven points in the third quarter while holding BEA scoreless to close the gap even further. Then, a fourth quarter TD and a two-point conversion by the Vikings brought them within eight points of the Bucs with plenty of time left on the clock.
Two big plays in the fourth quarter helped secure the win for BEA.
The Vikings were driving down the field looking to tie the game and had reached the Bucs’ 24-yard line and were faced with a fourth down with two yards to go to keep their drive going.
Following a running play up the middle, the Hayfield faithful thought they had a first down while the BEA defense was sure they had stopped the ball carrier short of the first down.
The chains were bought out for a measurement and it was determined that the Vikings had failed to make a first down.
BEA took over attempting to take as much time off the clock as possible. A penalty on Hayfield on a third down and five play kept the Bucs’ drive alive.
Three plays later BEA faced a third down again needing six yards for a first down. Once again they got the big play they needed. After faking a running play into the line, Juba hit Fletcher over the middle with a pass and he lumbered into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown. A pass completion to Timmy Nagel was good for the two-point conversion and a 50-34 lead.
Will Weerts intercepted a Hayfield pass on their first play from scrimmage after the kickoff to wrap the game up for the Bucs.
“In a game like that, I was just happy to get off the field with a win,” BEA coach Randy Kuechenmeister said.
BEA racked up 342 yards of offense compared to 298 for Hayfield. The Bucs had 200 rushing yards and 142 passing yards. The Vikings rushed for 274 yards and passed for 24 yards.
Hayfield ran 59 plays to 46 for BEA. The Bucs did not commit any turnovers while the Vikings threw two interceptions and lost three fumbles.
BEA was penalized nine times for 61 yards and Hayfield had five penalties for 35 yards.
Juba gained 156 yards on 17 carries for three touchdowns and threw for 142 yards and two touchdowns while completing six of his 13 pass attempts.
Timmy Nagel rushed the ball twice for 26 yards and caught three passes for 53 yards. Fletcher had two receptions for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Nagel led the Bucs with 11 tackles followed by Hayden Prestegard and John Nelson with seven each. Tungland and Tate Elzinga each had six tackles.
The Bucs traveled to Medford to take on the Tigers on Sept. 26. Look for a story on that game in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.