BGM Bears spoil Montezuma Homecoming with 55-50 win

​      Montezuma’s Landon Morrison blocks an extra point attempt by the Bears late in the fourth quarter, keeping the Braves in the lead, 50-49. After the Braves were unable to capitalize, BGM drove the ball downfield, scoring the winning touchdown with less than a minute left in the game.

By J.O. Parker
 
       It was a classic 8-man Iowa high school football game that did not go the home team’s way.
     The BGM Bears rolled into Montezuma on Homecoming Friday night on Sept. 22 and thanks to a late fourth quarter touchdown by quarterback Beau Burns, the Bears took home the 55-50 win.
       BGM last beat Montezuma in 2015.
    Montezuma quarterback Brady Boulton finished the game with 7/18 passing for 83 yards and two touchdowns passes to Broox Stockman and Alex Black.
      Boulton added four more scores on the ground, rushing for 116 yards. Brent Plants added another score for the Braves on the ground. He finished the night with 224 yards on 26 attempts.
      BGM’s Beau Burns finished the game with 32/48 passing for 355 yards and four touchdowns. Two scores went to Dominic Coleman and two to Tate Martin.
       Coleman finished the game with 218 yards on 14 receptions. Martin wrapped up the game with 55 yards on five receptions.
      Burns added 3 more touchdowns on 22 carries and 126 yards on the ground. BGM’s Mason Maschmann also scored for the Bears on a 1 yard touchdown run.
     BGM’s Dakota Heishman, Maschmann and Brayden Hepke all had receptions in the game. Hepke recovered a Montezuma fumble.
        Martin finished with 203 yards on 7 kick returns, with his longest being 78 yards.
       On the Montezuma side of the ball, Garrett Watts finished with 31 yards on two receptions. Black finished with three receptions for 33 yards and the two scores.
      On defense, Stockman finished with 8 solo tackles along with David Rose, who had 8 solo tackles in the game. Carter Michalek finished with 7 solo tackles in the game. Plants finished with five solo tackles.
       Kenny Criswell had two kick returns for 30 yards. Boulton and Watts each scored 2 two-point conversions.
      BGM’s Coleman and Heishman each had 7 solo tackles in the game. Maschmann finished with 5 solo tackles along with Martin, who also had 5 solo tackles.
        Montezuma’s Landon Morrison blocked a BGM extra point attempt late in the fourth quarter, keeping the Braves in the lead at 50-49.
      The Braves were unable to capitalize, giving the Bears an opportunity to score the winning touchdown with less than a minute left on the clock.
       “I was happy to see that our kids rose to the challenge to make plays when their backs were against the wall,” said BGM Coach Jerod Burns. “They showed a ton of heart and it was a great HS football game to be a part of.”
       “No doubt the guys poured their heart and soul into the game,” said John Beck, Montezuma coach. “They gave a great effort, but unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong end of this one.”
        Beck said this was a game of who could make the least amount of mistakes.
      “We ended up making more in the end. Assignments, penalties, and turnovers and missed opportunities all played a role,” said Beck.
        Beck praised his defensive line of Tod Geiger, Houston Van Roekel, Landon Morrison and Briar Simpson.
        On offense, he said Montezuma’s ball carriers did a great job of finding running lanes.
         “Plants was very physical with his runs and was a workhorse all night long,” he said.
         “We had two - three opportunities on the offensive side of the ball to change the outcome in the game,” added Beck. “We had the ball first and goal on the 1 and did not get the ball in on that drive. We also had our first drive of the second half stalled out by penalties. We also had an opportunity to go down and score with about 6 minutes left in the game to potentially go up between 7 and 9 points and we didn't get the job done on that drive either.”
        “In the end, we made more mistakes and did not take advantage of some opportunities when presented with them,” noted Beck. “We made mistakes in all three phases of the game and that ended up being the difference in the game. We will need to get better at the little things and grow as coaches, players, leaders and most importantly as a team.”