Frazee to wrap up regular season at top ranked Barnesville on Wednesday

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Frazee led early, but Park Rapids was able to power past the visiting Hornets on Friday night to secure a 57-23 Panther win.

Park Rapids was able to set the tone early as they scored on the opening drive of the game on a six-play, 55-yard scoring drive. The drive was capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Carter Hirt to Ryan Carroll to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead.

Not-to-be-outdone, the Hornets countered with an eight-play, 70-yard drive that featured a 28-yard run by Cade Nagel and a 13-yard run by Tanner Moe to set up a five-yard Moe touchdown run. The Hornets converted the extra point attempt to give Frazee an early 7-6 lead. 

Park Rapids was able to answer that score with a 65-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion to give them a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. 

Following a Carter Sonnenberg interception early in the second quarter, Adam Vigen found Ayden Grossman on a 23-yard touchdown pass to give the Hornets a 15-14 lead. 

Park Rapids once again quickly answered with a four-play scoring drive that included a six-yard touchdown run by Hirt to make the score 22-15 in favor of Park Rapids. The Panthers added another touchdown with just 28 seconds remaining in the quarter to give them a 30-15 lead, before the Hornets ended the half with a trick play that resulted in a 65-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 30-23 at the break. The long scoring play featured a backwards pass from Vigen to Sonnenberg, who then thew a touchdown pass to Grossman for the score. 

Head coach Russ Hackel said he was pleased with how the Hornets competed hard throughout the game, especially in the first half.

“We knew it was going to be a slug out type of match like it was last year,” he said. “We were able to stay with them in the first half.”

The Hornets threatened to tie the game on the opening drive of the second half as they had the ball on the Park Rapids 27-yard-line before the drive stalled. From there, it was all Park Rapids as the Panthers scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass to make the score 36-23 and found the end zone three more times in the second half to edge the Hornets 57-23. 

One of the big differences in the game proved to be penalties that seemed to occur for the Hornets at the wrong time. In the first half the Hornets were able to sustain drives, but in the second half their drives seemed to stall, while Park Rapids was able to continue to put long drives together throughout the game. 

“Just a few penalties and drives that got stalled and they executed on their end,” he said. 

As a team the Hornets stayed right with the Panthers on the offensive and defensive end of the field. The Hornets picked up 199 yards through the air and rushed for 82 yards. Park Rapids had 151 yards through the air and 213 yards on the ground. The Hornets turned the ball over three times, compared to just one for Park Rapids, while also committing four penalties compared to just one for the Panthers.

Vigen had a solid day through the air as he went 9-15 for 129 yards and a touchdown, while Nagel finished with 70 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. 

Grossman caught a pair of touchdowns and finished with four receptions for 72 yards, while Asher Blaine caught three passes for 44 yards. 

With the loss the Hornets fall to 3-4 on the season and will open up the Section 8AA playoffs on the road. The Hornets are currently in fifth place in the section, while Park Rapids is in fourth place, Hawley in third place, Pelican Rapids is in second place and top ranked Barnesville is in first place. The Hornets are currently in front of Roseau, Warroad and Crookston, all teams they have beat so far this season. 

Hackel said the Hornets will most likely receive the fifth seed in the playoffs and make another trip to Park Rapids, who is expected to received the fourth seed, depending on the outcome of this week’s games. 

This week the Hornets will travel to top ranked and undefeated Barnesville. The Trojans are 7-0 on the season and average 45.7 points per game on offense, while surrendering just 12.6 points per game on defense.

Frazee averages 20.7 points per game on offense, while surrendering 36.4 points per game on defense. 

The Section 8AA playoffs gets underway on Tuesday night. 

First Quarter

PR- TD 22 Yd Pass From Carter Hirt (Failed Two-Point Conversion)

FHS- TD Cade Nagel 5 Yd Run (Dawson Lyman Kick)

PR- TD Jaydon Walen 35 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion)

Second Quarter

FHS- TD Ayden Grossman 23 Yd Pass From Adam Vigen (Adam Vigen Run For Two-Point Conversion)

PR- TD 6 Yd Run (Two-Point Conversion)

PR- TD Parker Hunter 31 Yd Pass From Carter Hirt (Two-Point Conversion)

FHS- TD Ayden Grossman 35 Yd Pass From Carter Sonnenberg (Cade Nagel Run For Two-Point Conversion)

Third Quarter

PR- TD Landon Strasburg 21 Yd Pass From Carter Hirt (Failed Two-Point Conversion)

Fourth Quarter

PR- TD 12 Yd Run (Kick)

PR- TD 27 Yd Interception Return (Kick)

PR- TD Andy Johanning 57 Yd Run (Kick)

TEAM TOTALS – TOTAL YARDS: F 281, PR 364; PASSING YARDS: F 199, PR 151; RUSHING YARDS: F 82, PR 213; FIRST DOWNS: F 13, PR 13

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: C. Nagel (10-70-1), T. Moe (7-30-0), M. Mickelson (1-10-0), D. Lyman (4-4-0), A. Vigen (7-32-0)

PASSING: A. Vigen (9-15-129-1-1), C. Sonnenberg (1-1-35-1-0), E. Kilde (1-2-35-0-0)

RECEIVING: A. Grossman (4-72-2), A. Blaine (3-44-0), C. Sonnenberg (1-28-0), C. Nagel (1-16-0), M. Mickelson (1-4-0)