By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Frazee Hornets fell to 0-2 on the season on Friday night as they came out on the short end of a 42-7 game against Hawley. The loss comes on the heels of a 47-7 loss to Staples-Motley in the regular season opener on August 30. 

Head coach Russ Hackel said the Hornets are resilient and are battling on the field, but a few mistakes and inexperience are proving to be a difficult thing to overcome in the early part of the season.

“The inexperience and just not finishing drives. We left a lot of points out on the field. We did a good job of moving the ball, but we would just stall (on offense),” he said. 

For example, Hackel said the Hornets did a good job of containing a tough Hawley Nugget offense, but a few big plays here and there proved to be the difference in the outcome (individual stats were not available at the time of press). 

In its regular season opener on August 30, Frazee hosted one of the favorites in Section 6AA and came out on the short end of a 47-7 game. 

The Cardinals opened the game with a pair of touchdown runs in the first quarter to give Staples-Motley at 14-0 lead, before connecting on a pair of passes in the second quarter to make the score 27-0 at halftime.

The Hornets cut into the Cardinals lead a bit in the third quarter when Andrew Aho recovered a fumble and returned it for one yard. The Carter Sonnenberg point after attempt was good to make the score 27-7 in favor of Staples-Motley.

Unfortunately, Staples-Motley scored three more touchdowns, including an 83-yard scamper on the ground, as well as a 50-yard run to end the game by a score of 47-7.

As a team the Cardinals out gained the Hornets 421-237 in total offense with a bulk of the advantage on offense coming on the ground as Staples-Motley held a 322 to 173 advantage in rushing.

On the bright side, Frazee went 6-12 on third downs. 

Adam Vigen led the way through the air as he went 6-15 for 64 yards and three interceptions. 

Dawson Lyman led the way on the ground as he finished with 12 carries for 55 yards, while Cade Nagel finished with 11 attempts for 39 yards. Mason Mickelson rushed six times for 26 yards, Vigen rushed four times for 25 yards and Tanner Moe rounded out the rushing with six attempts for four yards. 

Mickelson led the way through the air as he had one catch for 21 yards, while Lyman caught two passes for 20 yards, Asher Blaine caught two passes for 19 yards and Sonnenberg caught one pass for four yards. 

This week the 0-2 Hornets will travel to Crookston to take on the 0-2 Pirates. Crookston fell to East Grand Forks 41-8 in their regular season opener and 43-6 to Park Rapids Area last week.

Hackel said the Pirates are a bigger team than the Hornets, but Frazee will have a chance to compete with Crookston.

“Crookston is big, they have big kids. They have a pretty big line and their quarterback is pretty elusive too,” he said. “They are kind of in the same boat we are. They have had just about as many points scored on them as we have had on us.”

First Quarter

SM- 3 Yd Run (Alex Schultz Run For Two-Point Conversion)

SM- 27 Yd Run (Peyton Mithun Kick No Good)

Second Quarter

SM- 20 Yd Pass (Peyton Mithun Kick)

SM- Alex Schultz 4 Yd Pass From Eli Rutten (Peyton Mithun Kick No Good)

Third Quarter

FHS- Andrew Aho 1 Yd Fumble Return (Carter Sonnenberg Kick

SM- 83 Yd Run (Peyton Mithun Kick)

Fourth Quarter

SM- 5 Yd Run (Alex Schultz Kick)

SM- Gavin Chenoweth 50 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion)