The football game matching neighbor districts BGM and Montezuma is always important because . . .well, because it’s a border war.
This year’s game takes on added significance, because the loser might not be able to make the Class 8 state playoffs.
The Bears and the Braves meet over the football at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, at Montezuma’s Badger-Gabriel Field. It’s a regular-season, district game. But count on a playoffs atmosphere.
At 2-0 in district play, Moravia has a leg up on Belle Plaine (3-1) and BGM and Montezuma (both 1-1).
Moravia has beaten both Montezuma and Belle Plaine. That means Friday’s result is pretty important, because the state will admit three teams from each district as playoff contestants.
“We’ve got to go out and prove some stuff,” Braves Coach John Beck told KGRN’s Chris Varney.
Beck was silent for a while in the wake of last Saturday’s 70-20 low-bridging by an outstanding Winfield-Mt. Union team.
But after viewing tapes over the weekend, he said he saw a number of things the Braves actually did pretty well.
Beck said the Braves will try to build on those against the Bears.
BGM is 2-2 overall. The wins were 96-12 over Meskwaki, and 85-0 over Twin Cedars. The losses: 66-35 last week to Belle Plaine, and 48-30 earlier in the year to Iowa Valley.
Quarterback Beau Burns, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore, leads what Beck calls “a dynamic offense.”
Burns has completed 74 of 114 passes, good for 1,057 yards and 15 touchdowns.
If he spots an opening, Burns will run and he leads the Bears in that department with 705 yards on 57 rushes, good for 10 touchdowns.
“We will have to maintain our responsibilities on defense as best we can,” Beck said. “They run some bubble screens and routes, but they’re more of a run team than most,” Montezuma’s coach said.
Top pass-catcher is Mason Maschmann (5-10, 185, senior), with 19 catches for 290 yards and a touchdown.
Top tackler: Tate Martin (5-11, 185, junior), with 28.0 stops, including five for lost yardage.
How does Beck want the Braves (3-2) to respond to last week?
“Flush it and move on,” he said.
“We actually did some things well,” Beck said. “We’ll pick out a few to improve.”
“We used our hands well on defense,” Beck said. “Our linebackers flowed to the ball and we tackled in space well. “I’m not at all angry about our effort,” he said.
“On offense, we need to improve the timing of our passing routes,” Beck told Varney.
“We actually played pretty well up front,” the coach said. “In fact, we could have run the ball more. The lanes were there. That one is on me,” Beck said.
“We did a pretty good job on kickoff and punt returns and our kickoff coverage was good for the most part,” Beck said.
The problem? The Braves were playing in a phone booth with a Class 8 powerhouse.
Running back Cam Buffington (6-3, 230), is headed for Iowa; 6-4 quarterback Jake Edwards is looking at Army. Both have Divison 1 speed to go with size, Beck said.
“They have a lot of good players who have been together for a long time,” said Montezuma’s coach.
Braves stat leaders
Passing – Brady Boulton, 63-107, 847 yards, 18 touchdowns.
Rushing – Boulton , 43-288, 5 touchdowns.
Receiving – Garrett Watts, 24-426, 10 touchdowns; Cruz De Jong, 16-165, 3 touchdowns.
Tackles – Broox Stockman, 24.5, 0.5 for loss; Watts, 23.5, 10 solo.
Game fact: The two quarterbacks, Burns and Boulton are one-two in Class 8 for generating touchdowns.
Braves update: Beck said kicker Max Anderson pulled a quad muscle and is lost for the season. “We’re hopeful he’ll be ready to go by basketball season,” said the coach.