HEMMED IN — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman’s Hunter Grathwohl (8) looks for running room as Hills-Beaver Creek’s Andrew Harris (84) and Gideon Taubert (5) combine to bring Grathwohl down during prep football action Friday night in Granada. The Jaguars’ Kaden Moon (3) looks on. (Photo courtesy of Susan Petrowiak)

GRANADA — Gavin Wysong does nearly everything on the prep gridiron for No. 1-ranked 9-Man powerhouse Hills-Beaver Creek, and does it exceedingly well.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior rushed for game-bests of 130 yards and five touchdowns, returned a first-quarter free kick 30 yards, gained 30 more on a second-quarter punt return and netted 46 yards on a third-quarter kickoff return to engineer the Patriots’ 50-0 rout over the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman Jaguars on Friday night in Granada.

“THAT is why they’re No. 1 in the state rankings,” Jaguars head coach Bennett Senf said in reference to Wysong’s performance combined with the Patriots’ plus-4 turnover ratio on the game via three fumble recoveries, two interceptions and a safety. “If the Minnesota State High School League held the Prep Bowl this year, I’d guess Hills-Beaver Creek would probably be the state 9-Man champion.”

The Patriots, who had outscored their first four opponents 182-14 this fall, converted their first six possessions of the opening half into a 44-0 halftime lead en route to ‘running time’ to begin the third quarter.

HBC defensive tackle Tory Knobloch’s quarterback sack forced the Jaguars’ to punt during the game’s initial series despite a 21-yard run by Kaiden Musser on the second snap of regulation.

The Patriots’ lethal 1-2 ground-and-pound tandem of Wysong and fullback Tyson Bork alternated runs before Wysong scored on a 1-yarder up the middle. Gavin Wysong then zipped a 2-point conversion pass to Zander Wysong for an 8-0 lead with 7:20 left in the first frame.

Gideon Taubert’s fumble recovery on the Jaguars’ ensuing kickoff return put the Patriots in business at GHEC/Truman’s 37-yard line. This time, Bork crossed the goal line on a 2-yard blast before Gavin Wysong sprinted for the 2-point conversion for a 16-0 edge.

Three plays later, linebacker Chase Bosch forced Jaguar quarterback Owen Wolter to get whistled for intentional grounding under pressure in his own end zone for a safety at the 2:33 mark. Gavin Wysong’s 30-yard return, plus a Jaguars’ facemask penalty, placed the football at the home team’s 10. Bork, who finished with 85 yards on the ground, capped the two-snap drive with a 7-yard TD — the first of his two on the game — for a 24-0 first-quarter lead.

Gavin Wysong then converted back-to-back fumble recoveries by Cole Baker and Bosch, respectively, into scoring scampers of 5 and 22 yards. The Jaguars’ Cael Jaskulke halted a 2-point conversion run before Wysong connected with Oliver Deelstra on a 2-point conversion pass following the latter TD for a 38-0 lead with 8:01 left in the first half.

Wysong’s 30-yard punt return later set up his 16-yard TD run around left end for a commanding 44-0 margin with 4 minutes to go before intermission.

Matthew Steuber’s fumble recovery with 38 seconds remaining in the second quarter, followed by Musser’s 58-yard completion to Payton Strauser put the Jaguars on the HBC doorstep at the 6 with time winding down.

Dewell Rauk, however, intercepted Musser’s next pass at the 1-yard line to keep the Jaguars scoreless on the season.

Bork and Wysong fueled the Patriots’ opening scoring series of the third quarter before exiting for the sideline for the duration. Wysong scored his fifth TD on a 13-yard run for a 50-0 lead with 7:33 left in the third.

Hunter Grathwohl garnered an interception for the Jaguars, but neither team scored during the final 18 minutes of running time.

The Jaguars (0-3) travel to Madelia on Thursday night, while Hills-Beaver Creek (5-0) plays host to No. 6-ranked Mountain Lake Area on Thursday night in Hills.

HBC 24 20 6 0–50

G/T 0 0 0 0– 0

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

HBC–Gavin Wysong 1 run (Zander Wysong pass from G. Wysong), 7:20.

HBC–Tyson Bork 2 run (G. Wysong run), 4:32.

HBC–Chase Bosch safety, 2:33.

HBC–Bork 7 run (pass failed), 1:37.

2nd Quarter

HBC–G. Wysong 5 run (run failed), 8:45.

HBC–G. Wysong 22 run (Oliver Deelstra pass from G. Wysong), 8:01.

HBC–G. Wysong 16 run (run failed), 4:00.

3rd Quarter

HBC–G. Wysong 13 run (run failed), 7:33.

4th Quarter

No scoring.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: HBC 12; GHEC/Truman 6. Rushing: HBC 33-244; GHEC/Truman 25-32. Passing: GHEC/Truman 4-13-2-83; HBC 3-6-1-12. Fumbles-lost: GHEC/Truman 5-3; HBC 1-1. Penalties: GHEC/Truman 7-65; HBC 3-40.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Rushing: G. Wysong (HBC) 11-130, Bork (HBC) 13-85; Kayden Loeschen (G/T) 7-22. Passing: Owen Wolter (G/T) 3-6-0-25, Kaiden Musser (G/T) 1-7-2-58; G. Wysong (HBC) 3-3-0-12, Oliver Deelstra (HBC) 0-3-1-0. Receiving: Payton Strauser (G/T) 1-58, Cael Jaskulke (G/T) 1-23; Bork (HBC) 2-11.

Defense: Interceptions: Dewell Rauk (HBC), Cole Baker (HBC), Hunter Grathwohl (G/T). Fumble recoveries: Gideon Taubert (HBC), Baker (HBC), Bosch (HBC), Matthew Steuber (G/T).

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Blue Earth Area 54, Windom Area 6 — The Class 2A No. 3-ranked Bucs steamrolled over the Eagles on Friday night, continuing their streak of 40-point performances and keeping their perfect season.

BEA totaled 307 rushing yards in the matchup.

Cameron Anderson scored BEA’s first touchdown on a 58-yard punt return in the first quarter, then Gavin Storbeck took a 31-yard run into the end zone to put the Bucs up 14-0.

Max Ehrich then scored a 9-yard rushing TD for the Bucs’ final score of the first quarter.

Austin Thielfoldt carried the ball for a 2-yard score to start the second quarter, then Riley Anderson scored from the 1 to put the Bucs ahead 35-0.

In the third, Cameron Anderson returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, the Ehrich scored again, this time from 20 yards out.

Windom scored its lone touchdown in the third quarter when Abraham McKibbin ran the ball in from 21 yards out, but a missed 2-point conversion kept the Eagles at six points.

Noah Johnson scored BEA’s final touchdown, running for a 59-yard score in the fourth.

Storbeck completed all five pass attempts for 90 yards, while Ehrich had six rushes for 85 yards.

Adam Schavey carried the ball five times for 77 yards, Ashton Lloyd made two catches for 43 yards and Cameron Anderson had two receptions for 34 yards.

Blue Earth Area (5-0) finishes its regular season Wednesday when it plays host to Maple River at 7 p.m. at Wilson Field.