Big Plays help Belmont defeat Highland 42-16

By John Dalton

In an early season showdown of undefeated teams at Belmont Friday night to start the Ridge and Valley Conference in 8-player football, Highland visited the Braves who received the ball to start the game.  On the second play of scrimmage, quarterback Wyatt Temperly lofted the ball to a wide-open Cody Kletecka for a 46-yard touchdown.  Temperly then found Thomas Freeman for the two-point conversion and forty seconds into the game, the Braves led 8-0.

But the Cardinals would answer.  On their next possession, and after driving the ball into Braves territory, Cardinal quarterback Kaden Washa fired a deep ball to Ben Ford with a pass that looked like both he and the defender Kletecka came down with, in the end zone, but the referee ultimately ruled touchdown for Highland.  Washa then tossed a pass to Jack Tarrell in the corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the game.

Two turnovers would prove costly for the Cardinals in this game.  Later in the first quarter, Highland was forced to punt on fourth and sixteen at their own twenty-six-yard line, when Belmont’s Braxton Yaun blocked Washa’s punt, which was recovered by Freeman.  The Braves capitalized on the next play as running back Tyler Kisamore ran around left end, broke a couple tackles, and scored from the nine-yard line.  He then ran it in for the two-point conversion, putting the Braves up 16-8.

The Cardinals offense, which scored 106 points in their first two games, marched down the field on another solid drive, ending when Washa found a slanting Ben Ford over the middle and a four-yard touchdown.  Brady Nankey’s two-point conversion run tied the game 16-16 with 9:27 left in the second quarter.

Both defenses struggled against these high-powered offenses in the first half.  Belmont, who scored 96 points in its first two games, marched right down the field when Kisamore again got the ball, and ran it in for a touchdown.  Temperly then found Griffin McNett for two, and the Braves took a 24-16 lead with under 6:00 left in the second quarter.  

Then things took a turn for Highland with another turnover.  The Cardinals were driving again near mid-field, when Washa attempted a pass that was blocked and batted into the air by Trent Paulson, and Freeman was there again, this time to intercept it, and give the Braves excellent field position.  

Wasting no time, on the next play, Temperly took a shot deep and found Kisamore streaking down the middle of the field resulting in a 45-yard touchdown putting the Braves up 30-16 and the halftime score.  

Both defenses played better in the second half stopping both the run and pass as no team scored in the third quarter.  

Belmont, driving the ball early in the fourth quarter, from 21 yards out, McNett got the ball, and he found an opening to the end zone, and after a failed two-point conversion the Braves had a twenty-point lead 36-16.  Freeman would later score on a three-yard run making the final score 42-16.  Belmont’s defense shut out the Cardinals in the second half. 

“Our inexperience showed in our last game. We will spend the week re-committing to the fundamentals of our offensive and defensive systems. Offensively, we need to do a better job of lining up properly and being assignment-sure.  On defense, we will be refreshing our tackling fundamentals after what I think was probably our worst tackling performance in years on Friday versus Belmont,” said Highland Head Coach Jason Scanlan following the game.   

Highland falls to 2-1 on the season and will make another road trip this Friday to play at Wisconsin Heights.  “Wisconsin Heights has struggled to get momentum this year but looks like a team that is ready to breakout. They are a team that always has good athletes who are a challenge to defend and tackle. Defensively, they will test us and help us find out if last week's poor team tackling was an exception or the rule. We will need to tackle better and play good team defense, and execute more consistently on offense, to have success in another challenging road game,” said Scanlan.  

Belmont moves to 3-0 on the season and will host Kickapoo/LaFarge.  Both games kick off at 7:00 p.m.  For video highlights of this game, go to The Dodgeville Chronicle Facebook page.  

“Belmont was the more physical team on Friday night, and the team that wins the physical battle usually wins the game in football. Credit their team and coaching staff on the win. They took advantage of our slow start and set up short touchdown drives with a blocked punt and an interception. In the end, we just made too many mistakes to beat a good team,” said Scanlan.  “On a positive note, Ben Ford played an outstanding game, with 6 receptions for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He also played a strong game at cornerback, with great coverage, including 2 pass deflections, and some strong tackles in run support.”

Belmont had 379 total yards, 254 on the ground and 125 passing.  Highland had 229 total yards, with only 34 yards on the ground and 229 passing yards.  Washa was 11 of 23 passing.  Ford led Highland with six receptions for 89 yards, and two touchdowns.  

Washa led Highland defensively with seven tackles.  Trapper Hoffman, Brady Nankey, and Koyer Zadrazil each had four tackles.