BHS wins tight defensive battle

ALEXANDRIA -- A full moon must have been shining over the Alexandria High School football field Friday.

* With about six minutes left in the third quarter a young man, wearing nothing but his birthday suit and carrying a soccer ball, streaked the length of the field, hopped over a fence and ran off into the night.

* Midway through the second quarter, Brainerd's James Strand rushed for a 9-yard gain when the ball was punched out of his grasp and into the air. Offensive lineman Jordan Ohotto made a nice catch and the Warriors retained possession.

Defense dominates

Brainerd allowed just seven first downs and 143 total yards as it kept the Cardinals out of Warrior territory for all but one possession.

"I like what we're doing," Warriors defensive coordinator Tom Idstrom said. "Our coverage was very good. (Alexandria receiver Derek Ludwig) is a track guy. He's a good one. He caught one short ball, and one down the middle, but that was it, nothing big. Our pass rush was good.

"I think we're making progress but we've got a ways to go. We can get a lot better than that, but a win is a win."

Plagued by penalties

Brainerd was penalized six times for 35 yards. Three were for illegal procedure, one for roughing the punter, one for an illegal block in the back and one for offside.

"That stuff needs to stop," Warriors coach Ron Stolski said.

Dramatic drive

Captain Ryan McKay and his defensive mates came through all night. Adam Lueck, Dylan Stupca and David Beilke had solo quarterback sacks.

On the game-winning field goal attempt that went wide, McKay, noseguard Dan Lepel and Lueck applied pressure.

"We knew we had to have a big play," McKay said. "The crowd was going wild, everyone was going wild. When it comes down to a big play you've just got to do it.

"We had a call on where Lepel pulls them out, and I blitz up the middle. He rips the guy off for me and we were just going up the middle, but I didn't get a piece of it."

McKay indicated the 70-degree temperature was a factor.

"In the first half we shut them out, and in the third quarter we shut them out," he said. "But it was tough. We were on the field a lot. It was tough to keep it going."

Cullinane cruises

Halfback Riley Cullinane had his second-straight game with more than 100 yards. He also caught two passes for 20 yards and punted three times for a 35.3 average.

"The offensive line is doing great," he said. "As long as we keep it up as a team it's going to be perfect. We've got to keep working. No one can ever let down."

Mike Bialka can be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.