Frazee to host Breckenridge on Friday night in home opener

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

With four of their first five games of the season on the road, the Frazee Hornets are putting some extra miles on the bus to start the season.

The Hornets opened the year with a 29-16 come-from-behind win over Parkers Prairie on Sept. 3. 

The Hornets opened the scoring in the first quarter when Dylan Selly scored his first of three touchdowns in the game, this time on a 2-yard run to make the score 6-0. Selly converted the extra point kick to make the score 7-0. 

Parkers Prairie answered right back with a 19-yard touchdown pass and converted the two-point conversion to make the score 8-7 in favor of the Panthers. 

In the second quarter Selly found the end zone on another 2-yard run and the Hornets failed to convert the two-point conversion to make the score 13-8 in favor of the Hornets. 

Once again the Panthers answered right back with a 66-yard touchdown run and once again converted the two-point conversion to make the score 16-13 heading into halftime. 

Head coach Russ Hackel said the Hornets made some adjustments and fixed some missed assignments at halftime, which proved to be the difference in the game.

“We fixed some things at half…from there we had success and we started moving the ball really well against them,” said Hackel.

Selly put the Hornets up by a score of 21-16 early in the third quarter when he scored on a 14-yard touchdown run. He converted the two-point conversion to make the score 21-16 in favor of Frazee.

The Hornets got some breathing room later in the quarter when Zach Longfors found Mark Jaroszewski on a 4-yard touchdown pass to make the score 27-16. Selly found the end zone once again on the two-point conversion to make the score 29-16. The game was scoreless in the fourth quarter as the Hornets held on for the win. 

Hackel said one of the big differences in the game was conditioning, which seemed to favor the Hornets. Even though Frazee isn’t a big team, they were able to use their speed to wear down the Panthers.

“Conditioning was a big thing. I felt at the end of the game we had plenty left in the tank to keep up with them,” he said.

Selly had a huge game for the Hornets as he rushed 24 times for 129 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tyler Moe rushed 16 times for 65 yards, Longfors rushed 8 times for 26 yards and Jake Nagel rushed 4 times for 12 yards.

Longfors went 4-11 passing with 3 interceptions and 44 yards with George Flynn catching 1 pass for 27 yards, Jaroszewski had 2 catches for 12 yards and a touchdown and Nagel caught 1 pass for 5 yards.

Moe led the team defensively with 4 tackles and 6 assists. 

As a team, the Hornets held a 273 to 207 advantage in total yards, including a 229 to 71 yards advantage on the ground. On defense the Hornets held Parkers Prairie to just 1-9 on third down and 1-2 on fourth down.

In addition to their regular season opener, the Hornets traveled to Pelican Rapids on Friday night and fell to the Vikings by a score of 44-14. Stats from the game were not available at the time of press. 

This week the Hornets will host Breckenridge on Friday night. The Cowboys are also 1-1 on the season after losing to Otter Tail Central 22-8 in their regular season opener. They defeated Parkers Prairie by a 20-8 score on Friday night. 

Hackel said the Hornets will need to overcome some injuries if it hopes to knock off the Cowboys on Friday night in their home opener. It will also be parents night on Friday. 

Following the game, the Hornets will once again hit the road as they have road games at Crookston on Sept. 24 and Underwood on Oct. 1. Their final three games of the season against Thief River Falls, Otter Tail Central and Roseau will all be at home.