Broken assignments break Pillager's upset hopes; Huskies fall 20-6
AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
PILLAGER - Lowell Scearcy is not easily impressed.
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On a night when the Pillager School District celebrated 100 years in education, the former Pillager graduate was mildly excited about the potential of his team despite losing to the Upsala/Swanville Area Patriots 20-6 Friday.
Pillager outgained the Patriots 337 to 323. It had three more first downs and fewer penalties than USA, but big plays foiled the Huskies' upset bid.
USA's first big play was a blocked punt at 3:15 of the first quarter that Christopher Ripplinger recovered at the Pillager seven. One play later Patriots' quarterback Brandon Welinski plowed into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Pillager graduate and head football coach Lowell Scearcy shouted instructions to his players during their game Friday night. This weekend Pillager High School celebrated its 100th anniversary. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
On the first play of the second half, Welinski provided the second big play, darting 71 yards for the Patriots' second touchdown.
"We showed a couple of cracks in our armor," said Scearcy. "I thought for most of the game our kids played hard. The blocked punt came after a penalty and then we let them score. Then, in the second half, there was just a couple of other little things where one guy didn't stay at home and do his job. Hopefully all of those things are correctable."
USA provided an insurance touchdown at 2:20 in the third when Ripplinger pushed past the line of scrimmage from a yard out to make it 20-0.
"This was a very good football team," said Scearcy. "They beat Ottertail Central by 10 points last week and that means that they are a good football team."
Pillager erased its zero thanks to an 11-play, 93-yard drive, highlighted by Sean Nokken's 44-yard pass reception from Jordan Hunstad. The drive was capped off when Jordan Hunstad hit Cole Hunstad in the front left corner of the end zone.
"That touchdown was important just to show that we can do it," said Nokken. "To show that we wouldn't freeze every time we got into the red zone. It was good for us, especially for Cole. It's his first year of varsity so we're pretty impressed with his performance."
Pillager had a chance to tie the score right before half, but a 12-play 63-yard drive stalled at USA's 5. The Huskies had it first and goal at the one, but couldn't crack the end zone.
Jordan Hunstad threw for 210 yards and the touchdown on 11 of 21 passing. The junior quarterback battled cramps in the second half and was relieved by sophomore Matt Doss, who went 4-4 for 30 yards.
Nokken caught six passes for 145 yards while Cole Hunstad covered 77 yards on six receptions.
Pillager Huskies running back Sean Nokken (28) rushed up the field against the Upsala-Swanville Area Patriots Friday night in Pillager. The Huskies lost the game 20-6. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Pillager threw for 240 yards, but managed just 97 rushing yards. USA rushed for 323 yards, but didn't complete a pass on five attempts.
Welinski led all rushers with 171 yards on 17 carries.
"I'm encouraged at how the kids are playing hard," said Scearcy. "We have a fair number of kids who haven't played football for a number of years. We have good numbers this year, the best we've ever had, and we have several kids who are playing in their first year or several who don't have a lot of experience. Judging by all that I think we're going to be OK."
Upsala/Swanville 7 0 13 0 - 20
Pillager 0 0 0 6 - 6
First quarter
USA-Brandon Welinski 7 run (Christopher Ripplinger 1 kick) 3:05
Third quarter
USA-Welinski 71 run (Ripplinger kick) 11:45
Upsala/Swanville 20, Pillager 6
Key: USA's Brandon Welinski rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
Overall: Pill 0-2; USA 2-0
Next: Pillager hosts Browerville 7 p.m. Friday
USA-Ripplinger 1 run (kick blocked) 2:20
Fourth quarter
Pill-Cole Hunstad 10 pass from Jordan Hunstad (kick blocked) 2:09
Team statistics
First downs: Pill 17; USA 14
Rushes-yards: Pill 39-97; USA 47-323
Pass comp-att-int-yards: Pill 15-25-1-240; USA 0-5-1-0
Total offense: Pill 64-337; USA 52-323
Fumbles-lost: Pill 1-0; USA 1-0
Penalties-yards: Pill 4-20; USA 6-30
Individual statistics
Rushing: Pill-Sean Nokken 9-41, Greg Flickinger 12-32, Luke Richards 7-25 Jordan Hunstad 11-(-1); USA-Brandon Welinski 17-171, Brady Burggraff 11-81
Passing: Pill-J. Hunstad 11-21-210, Matt Doss 4-4-30;
Receiving: Pill-Nokken 6-145, Cole Hunstad 6-77, Flickinger 2-14, Ben Ramsey 1-4