×

Kroeze powers Broncos by Warriors, 39-14

ARMSTRONG — Tucker Kroeze bulldozed the Warriors.

The Belmond-Klemme Broncos beat North Union 39-14 in a Iowa Class A district football matchup in Armstrong on Friday night.

Kroeze carried the ball 21 times for the Broncos and amassed 203 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.

Kroeze wasn’t alone in the run game as teammate Gustavo Suarez also surpassed the 100-yard mark for the Broncos, carrying the ball 16 times for 104 yards and a score.

Belmond-Klemme took its lead early in the second quarter.

The touchdown drive began with Kroeze and Suarez lifting the load.

Suarez had five rushing attempts on the drive for 64 yards — including a 45-yard run on a speed option — and Kroeze had a second-down attempt that went for 14 yards to get the Broncos into the red zone, but the touchdown came from quarterback Easton Barrus.

With the ball on the Warriors’ 11-yard line, Barrus faked a handoff up the middle to Kroeze and headed for the left pylon, which he reached easily with 11:39 on the clock.

The Broncos went with a swinging-gate formation for the two-point conversion, but the snap to Suarez was off and he fell on the ball to end the try.

The Broncos scored again less than five minutes later.

Logan Heaberlin returned a punt 40 yards for the Broncos to start their drive at the Warriors’ 38.

Kroeze carried the ball on four consecutive plays. A run up the middle for 14 yards, another for 9 and a third for 2. An encroachment penalty on the Warriors moved the ball to the 8-yard line and Kroeze took a handoff heading left and crossed the goal line.

Barrus faked a handoff to Kroeze and jump-passed from the line of scrimmage to receiver Jayden Lane for the two-point conversion to make the score 14-0 with 6:25 left before the half.

On the Warriors’ next drive, Mitchell Hill intercepted a pass from Isaac Engeman and put the Broncos at the North Union 47 to start what would become their third consecutive scoring drive.

The Broncos needed only four plays once again.

Barrus kept the ball for five yards and Suarez took a pitch on a triple option for another five and a first down. Kroeze took a speed-option pitch to the right for 12 yards to set Belmond-Klemme up on the Warriors’ 25, then powered his way through the middle and across the goal line for his second touchdown.

North Union head coach Matt Ernster said he’s proud of his players’ effort, but sometimes effort isn’t enough.

“We battled,” Ernster said. “Belmond-Klemme is a great team. We kind of knew this three-game stretch would be really tough. We were pretty confident coming in after last week, but sometimes you just get beat and you have to tip your cap to the other team. I thought Belmond played a great game, we battled as hard as we could, we fought, we played 48 minutes as tough as we could and for that I’m proud of our guys.”

North Union answered with its first scoring drive to keep the first half close.

Three long passes led the drive. Engeman threw to Brendan Anderson down the left sideline for 23 yards, then followed up with a completion to Elliott Hagebock across the middle on a post patern for 30.

With a first-and-10 from the Broncos’ 15, Engeman completed a fade pass to Anderson in the left corner of the end zone to get the Warriors on the board.

North Union went for two and was denied, setting the first-half score at 20-6 Broncos.

Belmond-Klemme opened the second half quickly. On its first drive, six rushing attempts put the ball at midfield.

With a first down, the Broncos pulled a play out of their bag of tricks.

Barrus pitched to Kroeze, who threw a long ball down the right sideline for Logan Heaberlin, who caught it slightly out of stride and fell to the ground at the 1. Suarez took the ball the final yard on a run up the middle for his first score.

The Broncos tried to kick the extra point, but pressure from the Warriors defense let RJ Hargrove into the backfield for a block to keep the score at 26-6.

Belmond-Klemme forced a North Union three-and-out and continued their scoring ways.

A 24-yard run from Kroeze punctuated the 60-yard drive, which ended with Kroeze taking a first-and-goal opportunity from the 5 up the middle and into the end zone.

This time, Barrus’ extra point was good, making the score 33-6 Broncos with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

Belmond-Klemme’s final score came with 7:56 left in the game and it came from Kroeze once again.

The drive started on the Warriors’ 48 after another good punt return from Heaberlin. Kroeze carried the ball on four of the five plays and ate up 42 yards, including the 11-yard run on a speed option pitch to the left where he crossed into the end zone for his fourth touchdown.

Barrus’ extra point was no good and set the Broncos ahead 39-6.

The Broncos were driving again after another interception, but Ryan Lang saved the day for the Warriors, recovering a fumble at their own 10.

With under two minutes left, Engeman was looking deep.

He connected with Anderson for 19 yards down the left sideline, then pulled the ball down on a draw for another six.

From the Warriors’ 35, Engeman connected with Anderson again, this time deep down the right sideline and Anderson broke free of his defender for a 65-yard score with 30.5 seconds remaining.

Engeman kept the ball and rushed up the middle for the two-point conversion to set the final score at 39-12.

Ernster said with the season nearing its end, it’s time to forget about this game quickly and end the season well.

“We’ve got to bounce back quick with our last game of the season next week,” Ernster said. “It’s a game we can compete in, we’ve got a good chance to win. We’ve got to flush this one fast, get back to work on Monday and finish the season on a high note.”

North Union (2-6) finishes its season on the road against West Fork next Friday night, while Belmond Klemme (7-1) hosts West Hancock for its final regular-season game.

BK 0 20 13 6 — 39

NU 0 6 0 8 — 14

SCORING PLAYS

1st Quarter

No Scoring

2nd Quarter

BK–Easton Barrus 11 run (run failed), 11:39

BK–Tucker Kroeze 8 run (Barrus to Lane), 6:25

BK–Tucker Kroeze 25 run (Extra Point missed), 3:48

NU–Anderson 10 catch from Engeman (Throw failed), 1:43

3rd Quarter

BK–Suarez 1 run (Extra Point blocked), 8:52

BK–Tucker Kroeze 5 run (Barrus Extra Point good), 2:19

4th Quarter

BK–Tucker Kroeze 11 run (Extra Point missed), 7:56

NU–Anderson 65 catch from Engeman (Engeman run good), 0:30.5

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: Belmond-Klemme 21; North Union 6. Passing (Completions-Attempts-Interceptions-Yards): BK 2-5-0-37; NU 10-20-2-191. Rushing (Attempts-Yards): BK 53-390; NU 22-64. Fumbles-Lost: 2-1; NU 0-0. Penalties: BK 7-40; 8-45.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Passing: Isaac Engeman (NU) 10-20-2-191, Tucker Kroeze (BK) 1-1-0-38. Rushing: Tucker Kroeze (BK) 21-203, Gustavo Suarez (BK) 16-104, Easton Barrus 10-55, Isaac Engeman (NU) 14-44. Receiving: Brendan Anderson (NU) 6-148, Elliott Hagebock 3-41.

Defense: Fumble Recovery: Ryan Lang (NU). Interceptions: Mitchell Hill (BK), Logan Heaberlin (BK). Blocked Kicks: RJ Hargrove (NU).

Pipestone Area 35, Blue Earth Area 6 — The Arrows shot through the Bucs by 29 points on Friday night in Pipestone.

No individual or team stats were reported.

Blue Earth Area (2-5) ends its regular season Wednesday when the Bucs travel to St. James Area.

Nicollet 52, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman 0 — The Raiders pillaged the Jaguars during 9-Man action in Truman on Friday night.

No individual or team stats were reported.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman (0-7) travels to face Alden-Conger on Wednesday for the Jaguars’ final regular-season game.

Luverne 28, Martin County West 0 — The Cardinals soared past the Mavericks, 28-0, in Luverne on Friday night.

No individual or team stats were reported.

Martin County West (1-6) travels to Redwood Falls to face Redwood Valley on Wednesday to close out the Mavericks’ regular season.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.65/week.

Subscribe Today