Following a strange loss to Lone Tree Friday night, 31-22, the Belle Plaine football team is looking ahead to a trip to Lisbon this week that will be broadcast live by WMT-Radio to parts of seven states.

Last week, the home opener for the Plainsmen ended as another road game. With 5:25 remaining in the first half, the lights and scoreboard went out on the field at Belle Plaine. Frantic attempts to fix the problem led to several false starts as the lights came back on, only to go out again. Officials then began determining when the game could be resumed and a quick call to HLV where the Warriors were hosting a game led to a decision for both the Plainsmen and Lone Tree to travel to Victor where the game was completed after the HLV contest.

Logistics aside, it was a frustrating night for the Plainsmen, who battled back from an early 6-0 deficit, but then were on the short end of the score the rest of the night. A couple of promising drives were stopped by turnovers and several other long plays were called back due to penalty.

Lone Tree got on the scoreboard in the first quarter on a three-yard run by Austin Ronan. The kick failed. In the second quarter, Belle Plaine tied it up on an 18-yard pass from Logan Baburek to Brayden Morrow. But the kick was blocked and the score was tied at 6-6 when the game was moved. With 4:58 remaining in the half, Lone Tree took the lead on a seven-yard pass from Gabe Lorack to Ronan. The two-point pass attempt failed.

The visitors increased their lead on the opening drive of the second half when Levi Reitzler ran in from 16 yards out and Ian Metzler kicked the extra point to make it 19-6.

Later in the third quarter, the Plainsmen moved closer on a four-yard connection from Baburek to Morrow. The two-point conversion was good on a halfback pass from Kyle Janss to Ben Ehlen to make it 19-14.

In the fourth quarter, Lone Tree added two more touchdowns on Austin Ronan’s eight-yard run and a five-yard scamper by Reitzler. The Plainsmen scored one more time with 1:43 left in the game on Baburek’s 23-yard pass to Janss. He then passed to Brayden Morrow for the conversion.

Coach Todd Bohlen again divided the rushing and pass reception duties around Friday night, with eight men recording carries and five catching passes. Janss led the team with 18 carries for 94 yards. He also had one catch for 23 yards. Devon Parr had 10 carries for 49 yards, Cooper Northrop had three carries for 10 yards and one catch for four yards. Baburek had one carry for -17 yards. Ehlen had two carries for 15 yards and two catches for 17 yards. Lance Hinschberger had one carry for three yards and five catches for 63 yards. Morrow had one carry for minus one yard and three catches for 22 yards. Nick Pippert had one carry for minus three yards.

Defensively, Reed Petersen had seven tackles, with two for losses. Parr had five with half for loss, Cody Chekal had six with one for loss, Zach Snyder had a team-high nine tackles, Hinschberger had four with a half for loss, Devon Conway had five, Janss had four with an interception, Northrop had four, Tyler Williams had two with a fumble recovery, Chad Olson had seven with half for loss, Blake Chekal had eight, Pippert had four with half for loss, Reece Kimm had two, Ehlen had two with one for loss, Morrow had two and Caleb Parr and Austin Brown each had one.

Lone Tree 6 6 7 12 - 31

Belle Plaine 0 6 8 8 - 22

BP                         LT

First downs                                 25                          25

Rushing                                        37-150                50-300

Passes                                           12-23-2                3-5-1

Pass yds.                                     129                         38

Punts                                            1-23                       2-24

Fumbles                                      2-2                         2-1

Penalties                                     7-51                       3-30