2 weeks Ago By Conrad Engstrom
BRAINERD — The Brainerd Warriors welcome one of the state’s best teams for homecoming. Moorhead, and its 51 points per game, will visit Adamson Field in Week Four Friday, Sept. 20.
The Spuds are 3-0 and the newest state rankings ranked them third in Class 5A behind district rival Alexandria and Elk River. The Warriors already lost to Elk River in Week Two 50-14 and next week will play Alexandria on the road. ADVERTISEMENT “I think it helps that we played Elk River a couple of weeks ago,” Warriors’ head coach Jason Freed said.
“We know that we have to have a great week of preparation and try to take away what they do well. Against really good teams like Moorhead, you don’t necessarily take everything away, but you need to be able to find ways to slow things down.” As for the game against the Spuds, the Warriors will need to stop the high-powered passing attack.
Sophomore quarterback Jett Feeney, son of Spuds’ head coach Kevin Feeney, has thrown for 773 yards and 15 touchdowns through three games with one interception and a 74.7 completion percentage. Davis Mack is Moorhead’s top receiver with 17 catches for 238 yards and six touchdowns.
Owen Thielges, Jamieson Dunlap, Reign Battle and Rufus Kermee all have over 90 receiving yards in the Spuds’ offense. Moorhead features two running backs who have over 170 yards rushing. Taye Reich has rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, while Madison Suah has compiled 174 rushing yards on 20 attempts.
“Moorhead has a bunch of athletes that they want to get the ball to in space, whether it’s in the run or the pass,” Freed said. “We have to get to the football and get 11 men to the ball and tackling. We have to be able to tackle and make plays in space.
I think the turnovers come when you are in the right place at the right time, but against teams like Moorhead, two missed tackles can turn into a big touchdown.” Despite the numbers, Kevin Feeney downplayed how well his offense has looked. “I think we are still trying to develop an identity offensively,” Feeney said.
“We have some weapons on the outside and we think we have good running backs. It’s just trying to figure out ways to get guys in space. We want to be able to run the football and our offensive line has been getting better.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s an exciting brand of football that people have watched us play this year, but the biggest thing is we want to play complimentary football.” ADVERTISEMENT Turnovers played a big role in Brainerd’s 35-21 win against Sartell last week. The Warriors forced the Sabres into three turnovers, a trend Freed hopes continues against the Spuds.
“That’s going to be big because we have to find a way to get more possessions for our offense,” Freed said. “Hopefully, that’s by creating a few turnovers and getting the ball in plus territory. We are going to see a Moorhead offense that is dynamic, so we are going to have to take advantage of the opportunities we get.
” The game plan for Brainerd this week is to try and limit possessions and eat clock with the run. The Warriors average 210 rushing yards a game. Jayden Barnum leads the ground attack with 340 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 48 attempts, which is good for 7.
1 yards per carry. Barnum sat out the second half last week in Brainerd’s win over Sartell. Quarterback Ty Nelson has rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries for 6.
2 yards per attempt. “Our running game has been a real strong emphasis and strength for us this year,” Freed said. “I think our offensive line is doing a great job of blocking and really scheming things up every week.
We are getting off the football, pushing people around and creating holes. I think as long as we continue to stay ahead of schedule and put ourselves in second and four or third and three and those situations that opens up the playbook for us.” ADVERTISEMENT Kevin Feeney knows it’ll be a challenge to slow down Brainerd’s rushing attack.
“They’ve got a couple of really good running backs and their offensive line gets off the ball extremely well,” he said. “The biggest thing for us is we’ve got to be very sound in what we do. We have to have a lot of hats to the football because it’s going to be old school football as far as the physicality and we’ve got to match that.
” Nelson also flashed his arm strength against Sartell connecting with receiver Izaak Vanek for a 48-yard touchdown. Nelson has thrown for 428 yards and one touchdown with one interception and a 61.7 completion percentage.
“It’s a traditional Brainerd team,” Kevin Feeney said. “What I mean by that is they play a good, physical brand of football with a bunch of good athletes. It should be a fun atmosphere in Brainerd.
” Brainerd has won the last three meetings with the Spuds. Last season, the teams met twice with the Warriors beating Moorhead 28-20 in the regular season and then 42-21 in the Section 8-5A semifinals. “It’s been a long-standing rivalry with Moorhead,” Freed said.
“I think it’s a respected rivalry. I have a ton of respect for coach Feeney and his staff. They’ve been a real standard in our section for many years.
I think everybody gets a little extra excited about going against Moorhead.” CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.
com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.
com/the_rad34. ADVERTISEMENT Warriors schedule Aug. 30: vs.
Mahtomedi — Won 42-14 Sept. 6: at Elk River — Lost 50-14 Sept. 13: at Sartell — Won 35-21 Sept.
20: vs. Moorhead 7 p.m.
Sept. 27: at Alexandria 7 p.m.
Oct. 4: vs. St.
Cloud Tech 7 p.m. Oct.
11: at Bemidji 7 p.m. Oct.
16: vs. St. Francis 7 p.
m Oct. 22: Section 8-5A opening round, TBA Oct. 26: Section 8-5A Semifinals, TBA Nov.
1: Section 8-5A Finals, TBA North Central Red Subdistrict Subdistrict Records Alexandria 3-0 (1-0), Brainerd 2-1 (1-0), Moorhead 3-0 (1-0), Bemidji 2-1 (0-1), St. Cloud Tech 2-1 (0-1), Sartell 0-3 (0-1) Week Three Results Brainerd 35, Sartell 21 Alexandria 63, St. Cloud Tech 0 Moorhead 57, Bemidji 28 Week Three Schedule Moorhead at Brainerd Sartell at Alexandria St.
Cloud Tech at Bemidji Team Stats Brainerd Rushing: 109-620 Passing: 29-47-428 Total Offense: 156-1,048 Opponents Rushing: 122-972 Passing: 8-24-179 Total Offense: 146-1,153 Brainerd hosts Moorhead When: 7 p.m. Where: at Brainerd High School Series: Brd leads 19-18 Last result: Brainerd won 65-6 last year.
Twitter: @the_rad34 Radio: KLIZ-AM (1380) Web Stream: www.kliz.com.
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