By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
BELLE PLAINE — The Durant Wildcats started o class A District 6 with a bang last Friday, winning at Belle Plaine 38-16. The win gave Durant their rst district win in week 1 of district play, and set their overall record at 3-2. Durant will return home Friday to play Cardinal of Eldon. Cardinal will come into the game with a 4-1 overall record and 0-1 D6 record.
This season, district 6 is shaping up to be the best of class A. Entering district play, not one of the six district teams had a losing record. BGM, Pekin and Highland are ranked teams in some polls and there are many traditional powers when talking about football programs.
Durant had 306 yards of total offense in the game with 137 passing and 269 rushing yards. Both totals, and the total yardage, are season high to date for yards given up by the Belle Plaine defense. The Plainsmen came into the game winners of their last three games and a 3-1 record. Belle Plaine had outscored their last three foes 161 to 14 while scoring over 45 points in each game.
Quarterback Bryce Lafrenz is closing in on 1,000 passing yards for the season. Lafrenz topped the 1,000- yard mark last season. Lafrenz passed for 137 yards in the win, his lowest yard output this season. His season total is 891 yards through five games. Lafrenz is second in class A in passing yards. Teammate Mason Compton turned in his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game, leading Durant with four receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Durant rushed for 269 yards on 39 carries. The Wildcats had two running backs top 100 yards. Tristan Hughes rushed for a season high 135 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. He has now rushed for over 100 yards in back-to-back games for the rst time this season. Junior Drew DeLong also rushed for 106 yards on 12 carries. Each averaged more than seven yards per carry in the game.
Belle Plaine got the football rst and put together a nice opening drive. But what they found out was the the Wildcats packed a defense for their trip to Benton County. Belle Plaine drove to the red zone and faced fourth and long after 17 plays. The 18th play could have been a touchdown as Garrett Straight saw a wide open Jaxon Kressley in the end zone. Straight lofted a pass in his direction and at the last moment, Drew DeLong got his left hand on the ball to knock it away, turning the ball over to Durant on downs.
The momentum Durant had found, was quickly returned to Belle Plaine. On the fourth play of their rst drive, Bryce Lafrenz couldn’t handle a high snap and fumbled. Belle Plaine recovered at the Wild- cats 10-yard line, setting up a rst and goal situation. Belle Plaine tried three straight runs but found no room against the stone wall of the Wildcats defensive line. Facing a fourth and 3 at the 3-yard line, Belle Plaine tried some trickery. The Plainsmen tried a half-back pass trying to fool Durant. The Wildcats would not have it as Marcus Engstler intercepted a Trevin Straight pass to snuff out the threat and turn Belle Plaine away from scoring again. That ended in a Tristan Hughes 10-yard run. Belle Plaine answered back with a Trevin Straight scoring run. The Wild- cats missed a PAT, and Belle Plaine converted a two-point conversion to take a 8-6 lead with 4:19 left before halftime.
Durant responded both offensively and defensively. O en- sively, Durant marched down the football field and scored again with 2:34 left in the half. A big 31-yard pass and catch from Lafrenz to Compton set up the score, a Compton 38- yard touchdown catch form Lafrenz. A 2-yard pass from Lafrenz to Marcus Engstler conversion pass set the score at 14-8 Durant. Defensively, Durant forced the Plainsmen into a three and out punting situation. The game shifted to Durant when Mason Compton returned a Dylan Fry punt 85 yards for another touchdown and a 21-8 lead.
The Plainsmen did score before halftime when Garrett Straight found Jaxon Kressley for a 5-yard scoring pass to set the halftime score at 24-16.
Durant outscored Belle Plaine 17-0 in the second half. Durant extended their lead to 24-16 in the third quarter on a 35-yard Hector Gonzales eld goal. The Wildcats scored on the rst play of the nal quarter on a Bryce Lafrenz 1-yard run to push the score to 31-16. Later, Tristan Hughes rushed in from 1-yard out to score the Wildcats nal points and set the score at 38- 16.
Defensively, ve Wildcats totaled double-digit tackle totals. They were Tristan Hughes 18, Zac Badtram 15, Will Lossi 13, Drew DeLong 13, and Marcus Engstler 11.
Durant will host Cardinal Fri- day for homecoming. Cardinal comes into the game o of their rst loss of the season, a 53-0 loss to state ranked Pekin. Cardinal won their first four games to begin the 2018 season.
Trey Albert has passed for 732 yards and 8 touchdowns with his main receiver Greiner who has 19 receptions for 386 yards and 5 touchdowns. Two Comet running backs have near 200 rushing yards.
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Durant 0 21 3 14 38
Belle Plaine 0 16 0 0 16
Scoring Summary:
2nd Qtr (10:24) - D - Tristan Hughes 10-yard run (Hector Gonzales kick no good)
2nd Qtr (4:19) - BP - Trevin Straight 2-yard run (Garrett Straight 2-point conversion run)
2nd Qtr (2:34) - D - Mason Compton 38-yard pass from Bryce Lafrenz (Bryce Lafrenz pass to Marcus Engstler)
2nd Qtr (1:47) - D - Mason Compton 85-yard punt return (Hector Gonzales kick no good)
2nd Qtr (0:42) - BP - Jaxon Kressley 5-yard pass from Garrett Straight (Jaxon Kressley two-point pass from Garrett Straight
3rd Qtr (7:00) - D - Hector Gonzales 35-yard field goal
4th Qtr (11:38) - D - Bryce Lafrenz 1-yard run (Hector Gonzales kick)
4th Qtr (4:10) - D - Tristan Hughes 1-yard run (Hector Gonzales kick)
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Durant - Tristan Hughes 19-135, Drew DeLong 12-106, Bryce Lafrenz 6-18, Marcus Engstler 1-7, Zac Badtram 1-3. Belle Plaine - Trevin Straight 22-68, Luke DeMeulenaere 14-49, Garrett Straight 10-16, Tanner Meeks 4-11.
Passing: Durant - Bryce Lafrenz 6-for-11 137 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT’s. Durant - Garrett Straight 12-for-28 97 yards 1 TD, 0 INT’s., Trevin Straight 0-for-1 0 yards 0 TD’s, 1 INT.
Receiving: Durant - Mason Compton 4-106, Zac Badtram 2-31. Trevin Straight 6-72, Luke DeMeulenaere 3-5, Tanner Meeks 2-15, Jaxon Kressley 1-5.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Durant - Tristan Hughes 10-8 18, Zac Badtram 7-8 15, Will Lossi 8-5 13, Drew DeLong 6-7 13, Marcus Engstler 4-7 11, Mason Compton 5-1 6, Cameron Ruggiero 3-3 6, Joe Lilienthal 0-5 5, Jonah Werth 1-4 5, Isiah Werthmann 0-4 4, Jake Willkomm 2-2 4, Bryce Lafrenz 2-1 3.
Belle Plaine - Ethan Gated 6-5 11, Tanner Meeks 2-5 7, Luke DeMeulenaere 2-3 5, Dylan Fry 2-3 5, Divonnoi Jones-Upah 2-3 5, Ethan Allie 1-4 5, John Reekers 1-4 5, Garrett Straight 4-0 4, Trevin Straight 3-1 4, Brock Balvin 0-1 1, Eli Ehlen 0-1 1.
Tackles For Loss: Durant - Tristan Hughes 6, Will Lossi 2, Zac Badtram 2, Drew DeLong 1. Belle Plaine - John Reekers 3, Dylan Fry 2, Ethan Allie 2, Ethan Gates 1.
Sacks: Durant - Tristan Hughes 1, Zac Badtram 1. Belle Plaine - Ethan Allie 1, John Reekers 1.
Fumble Recoveries: Durant - none. Belle Plaine - Ethan Allie 1, Dylan Fry 1.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Durant - Hector Gonzales 4-148, Marcus Engstler 3-115. Belle Plaine - Dylan Fry 3-108.
Kick-Off Returns: Durant - Mason Compton 1-24 yards. Belle Plaine - Trevin Straight 3-80, Jaxon Kressley 1-42.
Punts: Bryce Lafrenz 1-31 yards. Belle Plaine - Trevin Straight 1-45 yards, Dylan Fry 1-37 yards.
Punt Returns: Mason Compton 1-85 yards. Belle Plaine - N/A.
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