Bethlehem Academy recently issued the following announcement.
Great road win for the Cardinals, beating Kenyon-Wanamingo 28-14 in Friday's football game. From the FDN: “I think the guys came out and played with a ton of effort tonight. From the kickoff to the last plays of the game, they gave us 100% effort,” Bethlehem Academy coach James Beckmann said. See full article below. #CARDS #CardinalPride
From the Faribault Daily News: Bethlehem Academy capitalizes on big plays to run past Kenyon-Wanamingo
"Football fans were treated to an offensive showcase on Friday, Sept. 30, as the Bethlehem Academy Cardinals (3-2, 3-1 conference) posted a 28-14 victory at Kenyon-Wanamingo.
The two teams combined for 800 yards of total offense in the contest before a large homecoming crowd in Kenyon. The Cardinals went to the air for 229 yards passing with two touchdown receptions and 178 yards of rushing and one TD run. Kenyon-Wanamingo had 146 yards passing (one TD reception) and was impressive with 247 yards rushing and one touchdown run in the game.
“I think the guys came out and played with a ton of effort tonight. From the kickoff to the last plays of the game, they gave us 100% effort,” Bethlehem Academy coach James Beckmann said.
The Cardinals took advantage of three big plays in the game to gain the upper hand during the evening. The first strike by Bethlehem Academy happened on its second play on offense as running back Oliver Linnemann broke free on an 80-yard touchdown run at 7:13 of the first to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.
Kenyon-Wanamingo then took advantage of a fumble recovery by Blake Miller on defense, which stopped a Cardinal drive and set up the Knights’ first score of the game. Deep in their own territory, the Knights’ quarterback William Van Epps broke the shutout with an 86-yard TD strike to receiver Alexander Lee, which tied the game 6-6 with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
The tie game was short lived as the Cardinals charged back on the following kick-off. Sophomore Bo Bokman broke free on a 77-yard touchdown return to make it 12-6 at 2:00 of the first quarter. He also teamed up with quarterback Elliott Viland to gain the two point conversion and the Cardinals went into the second quarter with a 14-6 lead.
The game then settled into a defense struggle during the second quarter as turnovers hampered the offensive progress of both squads. Just when it appeared that the first half would end at 14-6, Bethlehem Academy connected on a halfback option play that saw Linnemann hit receiver Hudson Dillion on a 50-yard touchdown pass with :03 left in the first half.
The play gave the Cardinals a 20-6 lead going into the intermission and also proved to be the game winning score for Bethlehem Academy.
“We had some turnovers back and forth that neither of us capitalized on, but I felt it came down to those big plays,” Kenyon-Wanamingo head coach Jake Wieme said. “We scored to tie it up in the first and then we gave up a kick return and at the end of the half, we could have gone in down six and then they get the big play.”
He added, “Some of those are the little areas and miscues that we can clean up, because it wasn’t due to lack of effort. Our guys battled and worked their butts off, but sometimes mistakes can happen and we’ve got to learn from those.”
In the third quarter, both squads exchanged fumble turnovers before Bethlehem Academy pushed its lead to 28-6 with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Viland to Dillon at 3:02 of the quarter.
Kenyon-Wanamingo battled back in the final quarter with a solid defensive stand that included a pair of quarterback sacks that set up the Knights’ final score of the contest. On a 10 play drive that featured rushing gains of 14- and 19-yards by Anjuan Higginbottom and a 22-yard rush by Owen Craig, the Knights then took advantage of a pass interference penalty to set up their final score of the night. With 2:44 left in the game, Higginbottom blasted in on a run from the three-yard line to score. A two-point conversion pass from Van Epps to Colton Steberg finished the scoring at 28-14.
On the evening, Viland was 11-of-19 on pass completions for 170 yards and Linnemann had two pass completions for 59 yards in the contest. Linnemann also added 103 yards rushing on four carries. In the air, Dillion had five pass receptions for 126 yards and King brought in six passes for 90 yards.
Kenyon-Wanamingo quarterback Van Epps tallied six pass completions for 119 yards and Bartel had one pass for 27 yards. On the ground, Bartel led the Knights with 19 carries for 127 yards and Higginbottom posted 73 yards rushing on nine carries. Lee was Kenyon-Wanamingo’s top receiver with two receptions for 113 yards.
“We had some turnovers at some real inopportune times, I think there were two in the red zone…otherwise we could have put up a couple more scores,” Beckmann said. “But overall, I was pretty happy with the performance. We played disciplined football and I thought we moved the ball up and down there field pretty well tonight…probably one of our best complete nights yet this year.”
The play of Bokman earned noticed from Beckmann as he had 97 yards rushing on 20 carries, one pass reception for 10 yards, two kick-off returns for 95 yards and also notched 10.5 tackles and nine solo tackles on defense.
“Bo Bokman stepped up tot he plate. He is only a sophomore and did a great job running tonight,” Beckmann said. “Oliver Linneman had some nice long runs and our quarterback Elliott did a good job…it’s his second year and he’s matured into the position and he does a great job of stepping up into the pocket or moving it with his feet to make things happen.
Beckmann added, “Our defensive ends Charlie King and Hunter Conrad both did an outstanding job being very disciplined and containing their quarterback. They did a great job rushing his outside shoulder so he couldn’t scramble. My linebackers also did a great job stepping up in the middle and I think our d-backs had really good coverage tonight and they were outstanding as well.”
On the Kenyon-Wanamingo side of the line, Wieme praised to the inspired play of Luebke throughout the evening.
“Cal Luebke never gets enough credit on both offense and defense,” Wieme said. “He does a great job at the number two back (fullback) and leading it. We ran pretty heavy with Dillon (Bartel) and at the end with A.J. (Higginbottom) but it all starts with that (offensive) line and the fullback leading the charge.”
Bethlem Lutheran will continue their conference schedule on Friday, Oct. 7 with a 7:00 p.m. home game against Wabasha-Kellogg, while Kenyon-Wanamingo will travel to Fillmore Central for a 7:00 p.m. game on Oct. 7."
Original source can be found here.
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