Blue Earth Area gridders flatten LCWM, 51-12

BLUE EARTH -- Running back Parker Meyers, quarterback Ashton Lloyd and wide receiver Jack Norman generated a little lightning of their own during Friday night's rainy football game at Wilson Field.

Lloyd passed for 104 yards and three touchdowns -- a pair to the sure-handed Norman -- to complement rushing for 70 yards and another score, while Meyers produced 95 yards and one TD on the ground to highlight a Bucs' offense that amassed 432 total yards.

William Allis, Nick Nelson, Zach Benson and Noah Johnson spearheaded BEA's smothering defense that did not allow a first down and only 1 total yard of offense in the first half to pace a 51-12 rout of Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.

"With the shortage of high school officials, we were really happy to squeeze this game in, although it didn't look so good on the radar for a while in the first half," said Bucs' head coach Randy Kuechenmeister, whose lineup has generated 124 points in two games this season.

Ironically, BEA did not score until the rain started coming down heavily at the 3:52 juncture of the opening quarter.

"For some reason, we seem to play well in the rain," said Kuechenmeister.

Meyers and Lloyd packed a lethal 1-2 punch on the ground to march the home team to paydirt during its second possession of the night. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Lloyd pounded his way through the heart of the Knights' defense from 6 yards out for the Bucs' initial six points. Daniel Rodriguez kicked the PAT for a 7-0 lead.

Allis & defensive company held their ground to force a third-and-out series by LCWM before Lloyd only needed two snaps to help double BEA's lead. Meyers reeled off 4 yards to gain the Knights' 43 before Lloyd tossed a perfectly-time spiral to a sprinting Norman along the visitors' sideline for a TD. Rodriguez kicked the second of his five PATs on the game to extend the Bucs' margin to 14-0 with 1:51 left in the first frame.

BEA could not convert Kade Gaydon's fumble recovery into points, but Allis' football-jarring hit on a Knights' runner in the end zone later led to Nelson tackling another LCWM player recovering it for a safety at the 6:41 juncture of the second quarter.

Lloyd and Meyers then reeled off 21 and 16 yards, respectively, to set up Lloyd's 10-yard scoring strike to Colton Hubly just five plays following the Knights' free kick. Norman grabbed a 2-point conversion pass from Lloyd to widen the Bucs' advantage to 24-0 with 5:19 left before halftime.

Another BEA defensive stand created another LCWM punt, and the Meyers--Lloyd ground-and-pound attack delivered six more points. Meyers sprinted around the left end for a 17-yard TD to cap the six-play, 64-yard drive before Rodriguez kicked the PAT for a 31-0 lead with just 58 seconds to go in the first half.

Meyers then displayed his Mercurial speed by taking the initial third-quarter kickoff 50 yards to the LCWM 33-yard line before Norman caught a Lloyd pass, split a pair of defenders and crossed the goal line for his second TD of the game. Rodriguez's kick proved true for a 38-0 lead with 11:31 showing.

Allis and Meyers combined for a quarterback sack on the ensuing series to force another Knights' punt and this time, Noah Johnson took the first Bucs' handoff, broke three tackles and accelerated for a 57-yard score. Rodriguez's kicked was good for a 45-0 lead with 8:45 left in the third.

The Knights finally recorded their first first down of the game with 5:46 remaining in the third quarter. Quarterback Nathan Sickler completed a 9-yarder to Drew Dahl to help fuel the march downfield before the two combined for a TD. Dahl grabbed a 37-yard toss over the middle for six points to spoil BEA's shutout bid with 9:43 remaining in regulation.

Jacob Grandgenett's 70-yard TD sprint was negated by a late block-in-the-back penalty at the end of the run, but Max Loge later found the end zone on an 8-yard run for BEA.

Isaiah Hernandez's 63-yard kickoff return then set up Jack Goeringer's 2-yard TD run to cap the Knights' point production.

Hernandez generated 33 yards on nine carries to top the Knights' ground game.

Blue Earth Area (2-0) travels to Swearingen Field in Jackson next Friday night to face Jackson County Central in a 7 p.m. contest.

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (0-2) plays host to Le Sueur-Henderson next Friday night in Lake Crystal.

LC 0 0 0 12 -- 12

BEA 14 17 14 6 -- 51

Scoring Plays

1st Quarter

BEA--Ashton Lloyd 6 run (Daniel Rodriguez kick), 3:52.

BEA--Jack Norman 43 pass from Ashton Lloyd (Daniel Rodriguez kick), 1:51.

2nd Quarter

BEA--Nick Nelson safety --tackle in end zone, 6:41.

BEA--Colton Hubly 10 pass from Ashton Lloyd (Jack Norman pass from Ashton Lloyd), 5:19.

BEA--Parker Meyers 17 run (Daniel Rodriguez kick), 0:58.

3rd Quarter

BEA--Jack Norman 33 pass from Ashton Lloyd (Daniel Rodriguez kick), 11:31.

BEA--Noah Johnson 57 run (Daniel Rodriguez kick), 8:45.

4th Quarter

LCWM--Drew Dahl 37 pass from Nathan Sickler (run failed), 9:43.

BEA--Max Loge 8 run (BEA took knee on run), 6:35.

LCWM--Jack Goeringer 2 run (kick failed), 2:17.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: Blue Earth Area 11; LCWM 4. Rushing: BEA 31-328; LCWM 29-36. Passing: BEA 5-12-0-104; LCWM 2-11-0-46. Fumbles-lost: BEA 3-0; LCWM 4-1. Penalties: BEA 9-65; LCWM 3-20.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Offense: Rushing: Parker Meyers (BEA) 10-95, Ashton Lloyd (BEA) 12-70, Jacob Grandgenett (BEA) 1-70, Noah Johnson (BEA) 2-63; Isaiah Hernandez (LCWM) 9-33. Passing: Ashton Lloyd (BEA) 5-12-0-104; Nathan Sickler (LCWM) 2-11-0-46. Receiving: Jack Norman (BEA) 2-76, Soren Fering (BEA) 1-10, Colton Hubly (BEA) 1-10, Parker Meyers (BEA) 1-8; Drew Dahl (LCWM) 2-46.

Defense: Fumble recovery: Kade Gaydon (BEA).