Les Knutson
Daily Globe
HERON LAKE -Edgerton/Ellsworth started its first five drives Friday night in Southwestern United territory and scored each time, opening up a 38-0 lead midway through the second quarter of its Southern Confederacy West high school 9-man football game against the Wildcats.
The Flying Dutchmen racked up 441 yards of offense -338 rushing on 39 carries and 103 passing on 12 throws -as they improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season with a final 64-6 triumph.
Jessie Berning, a 125-pound senior wide receiver, broke loose on several long gains, including a 40-yard touchdown burst in E/E’s 28-point second quarter.
Berning scored a trio of touchdowns in the game and finished the night with 113 yards rushing on just five carries. He also caught three passes for 36 yards, including an 11-yard TD strike from freshman Bailey Fey (three-of-six passing for 36 yards).
E/E’s first five drives started at SWU’s 43, 27, 36, 10 and 49-yard lines, respectively.
Ashton Roskamp capped the opening drive with a one-yard plunge at the 8:30 mark of the first quarter.
Nate Paulsen (three of six for 67 yards) passed to Andy Menning for the two-point conversion and a quick 8-0 lead for the Dutchmen.
Tyler Kurrasch (76 yards rushing on six carries) ripped off a 21-yard gain to spark that first drive.
Paulsen scored E/E’s second TD on a 10-yard run and Kurrasch crossed the goal line on the two-point conversion run, giving the Dutchmen a 16-0 lead with 4:17 to play in the opening quarter.
Less than two minutes later, it was 24-0 after Paulsen found Menning with a 36-yard touchdown pass and Jake Post (62 yards rushing on six carries) bolted into the end zone on the conversion run.
Berning scored his first TD of the game on the first play of the second quarter, capping a short E/E drive with a two-yard run.
A 36-yard run by Jorge Lopez set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Kurrasch and Paulsen’s conversion run increased the Dutchmen’s lead to 38-0 with just less than nine minutes to play in the first half.
Berning’s 40-yarder for a score, along with Fey’s pass to Mitch Leuthold made the score 46-0 at the 5:25 mark.
SWU responded with a third consecutive strong kick return by Jake Getzel and a 35-yard run by Levi Taylor to move into E/E territory for the first time.
But an interception near the goal line by Berning ended the drive.
The Dutchmen, however, fumbled on their next play and SWU senior lineman Christian Mariscal recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a Wildcats’ touchdown with 3:09 left in the second quarter.
E/E answered 37 seconds later when Fey connected with Berning twice (including the 11-yard TD) after Berning snapped off a 48-yard run.
Leading 52-6 at halftime, the Dutchmen outscored the Wildcats 12-0 in the third quarter before running time limited each team’s opportunities in the fourth.
Post and Trevor Van Dyke scored E/E’s second-half touchdowns on one-yard runs.
Jon Beekman’s recovery of a free ball on a long kickoff set up Van Dyke’s score.
Kurrasch was outstanding on defense for the Dutchmen with 11 tackles, including a pair of sacks, while Austin Mertens (six tackles, two sacks) and Menning (four tackles, two sacks) were also involved in lots of action.
Taylor, Getzel and quarterback Dakotah Schmid each had several strong runs for the Wildcats, who netted 79 yards on the ground, but gained just eight yards through the air.
SWU (0-5) travels to Hills Friday for a conference clash with the Patriots, while E/E hosts Fulda the same night.
E/E 24 28 12 0 - 64
SWU 0 6 0 0 - 6
