Timmy Nagel crosses the goal line for the Buccaneers’ only touchdown in BEA’s 22-8 loss against St. Clair/Loyola.

Blue Earth Area saw their two-game winning streak in football come to an end when the St. Clair/Loyola Spartans defeated BEA 22-8 on Friday, Oct. 3, at Wilson Field in Blue Earth. With the loss, the Bucs’ record fell to 3-3 while the Spartans improved to 3-3.

Neither team could muster much offense early in the game. The Bucs’ first two drives ended with punts while the Spartans turned the ball over on downs on their first possession and had to punt the second time they had the ball.

It wasn’t until early in the second quarter that the first points were scored in the game.

BEA began their third possession of the game in the first quarter on their own 36-yard line and put together a 13-play 64-yard drive that culminated with Timmy Nagel running the ball across the goal line for a five-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the second quarter. Nagel also ran the ball successfully for a two-point conversion to give the Bucs an 8-0 lead.

A key play on BEA’s scoring drive came on a fourth down and 11 yards to go situation at the St. Clair/Loyola 32-yard line. A 13-yard pass completion to Peter Fletcher moved the ball to the 19-yard line and kept the drive going.

After the ensuing Buccaneer kickoff, the Spartans mounted a nine-play 56-yard drive which resulted in a 33-yard touchdown pass from St. Clair/Loyola quarterback Sam Freitag to JJ Cumberland. Freitag then carried the ball into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion to tie the score at 8-8.

The Bucs were not able to move the ball on their following possession and punted to the Spartans who took over on their own 41-yard line. On their very first play of their drive, St. Clair/Loyola came close to scoring a touchdown but fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone which resulted in a touchback and gave the ball to the Bucs at their own 20-yard line.

The Maroon and Gold were called for holding on their first play after taking possession and were unable to recover. The Bucs ended up punting and the Spartans took over on their own 49-yard line

Freitag connected with Will Youngerberg for a 48-yard pass completion down to BEA’s three-yard line. Three plays later St. Clair/Loyola’s Brevin Hansen ran the ball into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Freitag’s pass to Ashton Wilmes resulted in a successful two-point conversion and a 16-8 lead for the Spartans. Neither team scored for the rest of the second quarter so St. Clair/Loyola went into the intermission with an eight-point lead.

Following a scoreless third quarter, the Spartans scored the final touchdown of the game on a five-play 83-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Their extra-point try failed and the game ended with a final score of 22-8.

BEA accumulated eight first downs and were held to 100 yards of total offense. The Bucs rushed for 83 yards and threw for 17.

St. Clair/Loyola had a total of 13 first downs in the contest and 334 yards of total offense. The Spartans rushed for 247 yards and threw for 87 yards.

Nagel led the Bucs with 87 yards on 19 carries. Juba completed four of his 11 pass attempts for 20 yards. Fletcher led the receivers with one catch for 13 yards.

Nagel led the defense with 12 tackles followed by Hayden Prestegard with nine and a half, Tate Elzenga with eight, Chase Brase with seven and Tristan Tungland with six.

After hosting Maple River at Wilson Field on Friday, Oct. 10, BEA will conclude their regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 15 on the road against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

Look for stories on those contests in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.