By Chad Koenen

Publisher

On a night dedicated to remembering the 25th anniversary of the attacks on 9/11, the Frazee Hornets and Menahga Braves found themselves in a defensive struggle that came down to the closing seconds of the game on Friday night.

After scoring the opening 12 points of the game, as well as leading 6-0 at halftime, the Hornets were unable to hold the visiting Braves at bay as Menahga was able to score the final 14 points of the game to come away with a 14-12 win on Friday.

Following a scoreless first quarter, Ean Kilde found Noah Mekalson open across the field as he found the end zone on a 19-yard pass to put the Hornets up 6-0. The Braves came knocking in the closing seconds of the first half, but Frazee was able to keep the Braves out of the end zone as they completed a pass inside the five-yard line, but came up short to keep the score at 6-0.

In the third quarter, Kilde connected with Ayden Grossman on a 68-yard bomb to put Frazee up 12-0. Unfortunately, the two-point conversion was no good for the Hornets, which proved to be the difference in the game later on.

Menahga broke through the Frazee defense for the first time in the third quarter when Connor Foley scored on a two-yard run, but the Hornet defense kept the Braves out of the end zone on the two-point conversion to stay in front 12-6.

Unfortunately, Fynn Bakke tied the score up at 12-12 in the fourth quarter he scored on a six-yard run. The subsequent two-point conversion was successful to give the Braves their first lead of the game by a score of 14-12.

The Hornets were unable to find the end zone late in the quarter and dropped their second straight game and fell to 0-2 on the season.

Head coach Russ Hackel said the Hornets did well as a whole, but will need to make more of the routine plays to take some pressure off both sides of the ball, especially when they are passing the football a bit more than in the past. 

“As a whole we are making plays, but when it comes down to some routine stuff we expected to happen and we need to happen because we are throwing the ball more (we need to execute as) it puts you behind the chains pretty quick,” he said. “It’s part of the deal when you throw the ball three things happen and two of them are bad.”

Kilde had a solid night through the air as he went 10-19 for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Ben Reierson finished a perfect 2-2 for 40 yards. 

Mason Mickelson rushed 10 times for 54 yards, while Hunter Malone added 42 yards on nine carries on the ground. 

Grossman was the leading receiver in the game with four catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Noah Mekalson also caught four passes for 67 yards and a touchdown. 

As a team, Frazee was out gained by Menahga 313-250 in total offense with Frazee holding a 148-123 advantage through the air. Both defenses played well on third down as Menahga went just 3-12 on third down and 4-6 on fourth down. Meanwhile, Frazee went 3-10 on third down and 2-5 on fourth down. 

This week the Hornets will host the undefeated Breckenridge Cowboys at home. Breckenridge defeated Benson 35-22 in their regular season opener and Parkers Prairie by a score of 7-6 on Saturday.
They come into the game averaging 21 points per game on offense, while giving up 14 points per game on defense.

“They are firing on all cylinders. They are no slouch of a team,” said Hackel. 

The Frazee head coach said the Hornets will look to control the tempo of the game on the ground and get back to running the ball more than it has over the first two weeks of the season.

“We are just going to get back to running the ball and working the clock,” he said.

Frazee is currently 0-2 and averages 16.5 points per game on offense, while giving up 20 points per game on defense. 

PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int)- E. Kilde 10-19-108-2-1, B. Reierson 2-2-40-0-0

RUSHING (att-yds-td)- M. Mickelson 10-54, H. Malone 9-42, M. Chisholm 1-5, A. Grossman 1-1, E. Kilde 4-0

RECEIVING (rec-yds-td)- A. Grossman 4-85-1, N. Mekalson 4-67-1, B. Reierson 2-6, M. Mickelson 2-(-)10