Any week they can have an additional day of preparation, Ron Stolski and the Brainerd Warriors will gladly accept one.
That’s what Brainerd earned during its homecoming week, an extra day of practice instead of a game Friday, before they host the St. Michael-Albertville Knights on Saturday afternoon.
“We like the extra day of practice,” Stolski said. “We’ve been going hard for five games. It gives us a little bit of a chance to hopefully freshen our legs up.”
Homecoming week, Stolski said, is a special time, but it took on added significance when the game was moved to Saturday in 2007.
“It truly is a community event,” he said. “The Saturday daytime game, the whole business of culminating a week of activities with alumni coming back, the alumni hall of famers being inducted Friday night, Saturday with the parade and all of the activities for our community, I think it’s a great community event.
“It’s a wonderful experience. It’s both a challenge and a privilege to kind of end the week of activities.”
The Warriors have rattled four impressive wins since losing their opener, while the Knights attempt to rebound from a disappointing 15-13 loss to Buffalo, which won its first game. StMA stands 3-2, with its season so far bookended by losses. The Knights lost their opener 8-0 to Cambridge-Isanti, before beating Duluth East 43-6, Big Lake 43-13 and Rogers 28-14.
“Rogers has been kind of the class of our conference (Mississippi 8) the last couple years,” Knights coach Jared Essler said. “Our kids were up for that game, and we played really well.
“(Last week) it was homecoming here, and I just felt like we were a little distracted. We were coming off a really big win, and I don’t think we came ready to play. I don’t think we respected our opponent as much as we should have.
“(The game) had all the makings of a letdown. In their four losses (Buffalo was) minus 11-12 in the turnover battle. They cut out the turnovers against us, they kicked a 46-yard field goal, we turned the ball over three times, they played really well, we didn’t.”
Brainerd has played very well the last several games. Last week against Apollo, the Warriors controlled the ball, running 25 more plays from scrimmage. The Warriors threw only nine times as they racked up 354 yards on the ground in 60 carries (5.9-yard average). Quarterback Luke Boran ran for 137 yards, Conor Gessell 120 and Logan Davis 82.
Stolski said the Warriors are “kind of morphing” into a running team and into one that plays staunch defense.
“The last half of our (St. Cloud) Tech game, literally the whole Willmar game, and the Bemidji game, it’s not necessarily by design, it’s just the fact we have a quarterback who can run so well in the option offense that we run. That really helps those hard running backs,” Stolski said.
“The other thing is the maturation of the offensive line,” he added. “With that said, we know we have to open our game up. We have good players at the receiver positions. We go into every game with the intent we’re going to be balanced. It’s just always been part of our philosophy that you go with what’s working.
“Historically, we’ve been a running team, but if you look at us over the last 10 years in our spread offense we generally throw for about 1,000 yards, and we might even be on that pace now.
“Another thing you can’t overlook is our defense. We’re getting more three and outs, so they give us the ball more, we have more opportunities to figure things out offensively. We think even though some points are being scored on our defense, the defense is really coming along.”
Defense is one of the Knights’ strengths. They have surrendered just 56 points (11.2 a game). They are led by linebackers Erik Johnson and Tyler Berg with 38 and 37 tackles, respectively.
“Defense has been our highlight, we’ve been kind of hanging our hat on that,” Essler said. “We do a good job stopping the run, that’s been the best thing we do. Teams we have trouble with have accurate quarterbacks who can throw the ball well.”
The Knights have also been solid on offense, averaging 25.4 points a game. Quarterback Cole Krutzig is a returning starter and a dual threat, passing for 570 yards and six TDs, rushing for 196 yards and a score.
Chris Kartes is the leading rusher with 51 carries for 332 yards and three TDs.
Leading receivers are Brian Ferry (11 catches, 209 yards, 1 TD), Jamey Kolles (11-155-0), and Tony Bork (15-145-3).
Brainerd will be the third outstate team the Knights play this season. Duluth East and Fergus Falls are the others.
“It’s fun to play a big-name opponent,” Essler said. “I remember Brainerd beat Eden Prairie a couple years ago in the state playoffs. That says a lot about Brainerd and the type of program they have.
“We think we’re a pretty good team. We think we’re better than our 3-2 record indicates. We hope to come up there and give the Warriors a battle.”
MIKE BIALKA, sports editor, may be reached at 855-5861. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bertsballpark.
Lineups
Brainerd Warriors
OFFENSE
QB: 11-Luke Boran, 12-Thomas Stoxen, 15-Logan McElfresh, 37-Luke Patron
RB: 23-Logan Davis, 22-Conor Gessell, 10-Mason Severson, 24-Matt Ramerth, 26-Matt Sucik
WR: 2-Isaiah Smith, 7-Grant Reuer, 18-Geoff Sheflo, 81-Quinn McElfresh
SR: 8-Logan Jones, 31-Cole Smith
TE: 15-Logan McElfresh, 54-Alex Mimmack
C: 64-Billy Desrocher, 57-Zach Shepersky, 50-Wyll Erickson
G: 63-Jon Asprey, 57-Zach Shepersky, 54-Alex Mimmack, 65-Andrew Seglem, 77-Zach Thomas
T: 67-Alex DeRosier, 68/87-Alex Evanson, 75-James Weiss
DEFENSE
Line: 55-Jace Engelmann, 88-Chris Bowman, 54-Alex Mimmack, 96-Chris Laber, 94-Austin Mau, 78-Sam Adams, 66-Zach Hatcher
OLB: 36-T.J. Graumann, 33-Jake Donnay, 27-Troy Lenz, 33-Cole DeRosier
ILB: 34/52-Slade Simpson, 53-Sam Kelash, 30-Taylor Scheidenberger, 15-Logan McElfresh, 47-Winston Fenske
CB: 7-Grant Reuer, 12-Thomas Stoxen, 31-Cole Smith, 17-Beau Janousek, 20-Cody Mihok
S: 31-Cole Smith, 16-Trevor Maier
SPECIAL TEAMS
Punter: 15-Logan McElfresh
Kicker: 15-Logan McElfresh
Punt return: 31-Cole Smith, 23-Logan Davis, 2-Isaiah Smith
Kickoff return: 22-Conor Gessell, 23-Logan Davis
Long snap: 33-Jake Donnay, 17-Beau Janousek
Holder: 11-Luke Boran, 12-Thomas Stoxen
St. Michael-Albertville Knights
OFFENSE
QB: 16-Cole Krutzig
RB: 28-Chris Kartes
FB: 27-Brendan Poland
T: 59-Sean Scharlau
G: 69-Mikey Kessler
C: 56-Jeff Hackenmueller
G: 58-Cody Fox
T: 77-Matt Krutzig
WR: 14-Jamey Kolles
WR: 12-Tony Bork
WR: 81-Brian Ferry
DEFENSE
E: 50-Allen Giller
T: 54-Austin Brouillette
T: 69-Mikey Kessler
E: 46-Bennie Wilson
OLB: 48-Jacob Moran
ILB: 18-Tyler Berg
ILB: 49-Ben Haller
OLB: 7-Erik Johnson
CB: 24-Tyler Berhow
FS: 3-Dallas Freeman
CB: 12-Tony Bork
SPECIAL TEAMS
K: 9-Justin McLain
Holder: 6-Henry Berning
P: 7-Erik Johnson
PR: 3-Dallas Freeman
KR: 28-Chris Kartes, 3-Dallas Freeman, 12-Tony Bork
Warriors schedule
Aug 31, Rocori, LOST 48-28
Sept 7, St. Cloud Tech, WON 42-28
Sept 14, at Willmar, WON 21-14
Sept 21, Bemidji, WON 40-23
Sept 28, at St. Cloud Apollo WON 28-14
Oct 6, St. Michael-Albertville 2 p.m.
Oct 12, at Grand Rapids 7 p.m.
Oct 17, at Alexandria 7 p.m.
Central Lakes Conference
Conf All
Fergus Falls 4-0 4-1
Rocori 4-1 4-1
Brainerd 3-1 4-1
Sartell 2-1 4-1
St. Cloud Tech 2-1 3-2
Willmar 1-3 2-3
Sauk Rapids 1-3 1-4
Alexandria 1-4 1-4
St. Cloud Apollo 0-4 0-5
Sept. 28 Results
Brainerd 28, Apollo 14
Willmar 27, Alexandria 14
Fergus Falls 35, Sartell 28
Moorhead 48, Tech 40
Sept. 29 Result
Sauk Rapids 20, Rocori 12
Friday, Oct. 5
Sartell at Tech
Apollo at Sauk Rapids
Non-conference
Bemidji at Alexandria
Rocori at Big Lake
Grand Rapids at Fergus Falls
Monticello at Willmar
Saturday, Oct. 6
St. Michael-Albertville at Brainerd
Section 5-6A
Section All
Osseo 3-0 5-0
Brainerd 0-0 4-1
Maple Grove 2-1 4-1
Champlin Park 2-0 3-2
Blaine 1-2 3-2
Anoka 0-2 2-3
Centennial 1-2 1-4
Coon Rapids 0-2 0-5
Sept. 28 Results
Osseo 22, Andover 13
Brainerd 28, Apollo 14
Maple Grove 41, Anoka 28
Blaine 56, Coon Rapids 7
Champlin Park 28, Centennial 25
Friday, Oct. 5
Park Center at Osseo
Centennial at Maple Grove
Blaine at Champlin Park
Anoka at Coon Rapids
Saturday, Oct. 6
St. Michael-Albertville at Brainerd
Warriors statistics
FIVE GAMES
RUSHING Att Yds Avg TD
Conor Gessell 76 492 6.5 8
Luke Boran 76 395 5.2 5
Logan Davis 81 308 3.8 2
Ma. Severson 4 22 5.5 0
Matt Ramerth 4 18 4.5 0
Thomas Stoxen 3 14 4.7 0
Matt Sucik 1 6 6.0 0
PASSING Com Att Yds TD
Luke Boran 36 67 502 5
Thomas Stoxen 2 4 25 0
Lo. McElfresh 0 1 0 0
RECEIVING No Yds Avg TD
Isaiah Smith 9 157 17.4 2
Cole Smith 12 155 12.9 1
Grant Reuer 7 79 11.3 1
Conor Gessell 2 69 34.5 1
Logan Davis 6 67 11.2 0
Logan Jones 3 32 10.7 0
SCORING TD 2PT EPK TP
Conor Gessell 10 2 0 64
Luke Boran 5 0 0 30
Logan Davis 3 0 0 18
Lo. McElfresh 0 0 17 17
Isaiah Smith 2 0 0 12
Grant Reuer 2 0 0 12
Cole Smith 1 0 0 6
Forced fumbles: Slade Simpson 1, Sam Kelash 2, Winston Fenske 2, Reuer 1, Trevor Maier 1, Chris Bowman 1
Fumble recoveries: Kelash 1, Jake Donnay 1, Cole Smith 1, Simpson 1
Interceptions: Reuer 4, Stoxen 1
Season tackle leaders: Cole Smith 70, Fenske 55, T.J. Graumann 54, Simpson 53
Points per-game average: Brainerd 31.8, opposition 25.4
Yards per game average: Brainerd 362.8, opposition 302.4
