Verndale jumps out early for win

VERNDALE - Zack Meidinger rushed for 204 yards and scored three touchdowns and Colby Schmidt returned an interception 30 yards for another score as the Verndale Pirates opened the season with a 38-20 victory over Brandon-Evansville Friday.

Meidinger scored on runs of 74 and 83 and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Colby Schmidt.

Amos Schmidt scored from 60 yards as he rushed for 88 yards on eight carries.

Jayson Perius finished off Verndale's scoring in the third quarter with a 44-yard run.

Brandon-Evansville 0 6 0 14 - 20

Verndale 20 12 6 0 - 38

First quarter

V-Zack Meidinger 74 run (Colby Schmidt run) 5:38

V-C. Schmidt 30 pass interception return (conversion failed) 4:40

V-Meidinger 28 pass from Schmidt (conversion failed) :00

Second quarter

BE-Travis Lund 49 pass from Tyson Meisner (conversion failed) 9:40

V-Amos Schmidt 60 run (conversion failed) 8:39

V-Meidinger 83 run (conversion failed) 4:50

Third quarter

V-Jayson Perius 44 run (conversion failed) 7:03

Fourth quarter

BE-Adam Wagner 7 pass from Meisner (conversion failed) 6:51

BE-Lund 70 run (Meisner pass to Weigner) 3:42

Team statistics

Rushes-yards: BE 53-360; V 40-407

Pass comp-att-int-yards: BE 6-16-1-78; V 1-6-1-28

Total offense: BE 438; V 435

Individual statistics

Rushing: V-Meidinger 5-204, Amos Schmidt 8-88, Perius 7-43; BE-Levi Hintermeister 19-107, Meisner 22-105, Lund 8-101

Passing: V-Schmidt 1-5-0-28, Nate Bart 0-1-1-0 BE-Meisner 6-16-1-78

Receiving: V-Meidinger 1-28, BE-Lund 3-64, Wagner 2-10;

Conference: V 1-0. Overall: V 1-0. Next: Underwood at Verndale 7 p.m. Friday.