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OLIVIA — Kimball junior running back Andy Becker dominated the trenches against BOLD to help the Cubs defeat the Warriors on their senior night, 24-14 on Friday.
BOLD, ranked No. 1 in Class A, had their hands full in stopping Becker, who led No. 7 ranked Kimball in Class AA to victory in a matchup of undefeated teams.
“We didn’t have the tempo that we needed right out of the gate and Kimball took advantage of that,” Warriors head coach Derek Flann said. “Becker was a good football player. He forced us to miss tackles and make mistakes. That isn’t something that is common for us. … He won the game for his team.”
Before Becker broke the game open, Kimball recovered the opening kickoff after the ball bounced off a BOLD player in the front row of the return team.
Becker then scored the game’s first touchdown 4 minutes, 16 seconds into the first half and added a two-point conversion. It was Kimball’s second touchdown of the first quarter to help the Cubs get out to a 16-0 lead.
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“It was a bad break right away when they kicked it off our front guy's foot and recovered the football,” Flann said. “It took us a little while to get our feet under us after that. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump. … I think we need to respond to that adversity right away a little bit better.”
Becker added one more touchdown in the second half to cement Kimball’s victory. He totaled 228 rushing yards on 40 carries.
The Warriors saw strong play from their defense after they allowed the first two touchdowns, holding Kimball to one more touchdown and allowing 38 passing yards the entire game.
“I didn’t think we played terribly. There are little things we can do better,” Flann said. “We didn’t make a ton of mistakes to lose the game. They just beat us.”
BOLD cut Kimball’s lead in half by finding the end zone with 56.2 seconds remaining in the first half. Sophomore quarterback Jack Gross connected with senior wide receiver Ryan King, who made a spectacular catch for a 12-yard touchdown.
Carrying their late-touchdown momentum from the first half into the second, Gross threw a 91-yard strike to senior tight end Stevie McMath to cut the deficit to 16-14 in the third quarter.
Warriors sophomore running back Hudson Vosika exited the game in the first half due to injury and returned later, but did not have the same step. It affected the way Flann and company ran their offense.
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“When he’s out there, he’s either getting the ball or he’s diverting attention,” Flann said. “When he’s out, you lose that. When you don’t have that … everything gets a little slower and murkier.”
BOLD plays Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in its regular-season finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Belgrade.
Kimball 24, BOLD 14
Kimball (7-0) 16 0 0 8 — 24
BOLD (6-1) 0 8 6 0 — 14
Scoring Plays
KIM – Andy Becker run (two-point converted)
KIM – Bryant Knaus from Austin Schindler (Becker run)
BOLD – Ryan King 12 pass from Jack Gross (Kaden Fischer from Gross)
BOLD – McMath 91 pass from Gross (two-point failed)
KIM – Becker 1 run (Becker pass from Schindler)
Kimball
First downs: n/a … Penalties: 2-15 … Rushing (Individual and team): Andy Becker 40-228. Haden Rosenow 11-41. Total: 53-270 … Passing (Individual and team): Schindler 4-10-1. Schindler 4-10-38 ... Receiving: Bryant Knaus 1-21, Owen Mortenson 1-10 … Interceptions: team 1 … Fumble recoveries: none … Tackles (solo-assist): n/a … QB sacks: none
BOLD
First downs: n/a … Penalties: n/a … Rushing (Individual and team): Hudson Vosika 10-42, Kaden Fischer 5-23. Total: 16-67 … Passing (Individual and team): Jack Gross 6-13-1. 6-13-146 ... Receiving: Ryan King 3-36, Stevie McMath 3-109 … Interceptions: none … Fumble recoveries: none … Tackles (solo-assist): Owen Flann 9-7, Tate Sheehan 9-6, Carson Serbus 7-5, Austin Kiecker 6-5 … QB sacks: Sheehan 1
