Paynesville Blows out Rebels

Dwight Cadwell- NSO

The Paynesville Bulldogs entered Fridays matchup with Moose Lake-Willow River averaging 38 points per game while allowing only 11 points per game and with that said it was Paynesville who used Rebel mistakes and miscues to their advantage as the Bulldogs defeated MLWR 56-8 in the state Class AA quarterfinals in North Branch.

Seven Rebel turnovers led to short fields and even shorter drives as the Bulldogs built a 12-0 lead after one quarter of play, and three more second quarter touchdowns the Bulldogs led 32-0 at the halftime break.

The Rebels who fumbled four times and were picked off three times saw coach Dave Louzek scratch his head when he stated “I dont think i can ever remember that many turnovers for us unless you go back some twenty years.” Louzek added “we just didn’t get things going in a positive direction but we can use this loss as a motivator for next season”

Grady Fuchs led the Bulldogs with three touchdown runs of 19,5, and 2 yards, and he also threw two touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Levi Blast connecting on touchdown passes of 51 and 54 yards.

“Not only the turnovers killed us but we had mental breakdowns” Louzek mentioned, “a touchdown that didn’t count that was called back due to a penalty, and our defense let them have to many big plays.”

The Rebels who trailed 56-0 saw their only touchdown come when Jordan Fjosne score on a 5 yard touchdown scamper and Eli Werner converted on the two point conversion to make the final margin of victory of 48 points the biggest lopsided loss in many years for MLWR.

Werner finished with 142 yards rushing for the Rebels who finished with 301 yards of total offense, but only 40 yards of that coming through the air. Fuchs led the Bulldogs with 284 yards passing going 9-14 overall for Paynesville.

The Bulldogs balanced attack finished with 532 yards of offensive, 295 through the air and 237 yards on the ground. MLWR closes the season 8-3 and will have a solid core of underclassmen returning next season as they only had three senior starters this year.

The Bulldogs move into the Class AA semifinals Thursday where they will face Minneapolis North at 2:00 pm at US Bank Stadium.