Beckman steals the show against CP-U

DYERSVILLE - What was billed as a defensive fistfight became a showcase for Dyersville Beckman.

Beckman jumped to a 31-7 halftime lead with two touchdowns in each quarter and ran for 274 yards as they defeated Center Point-Urbana, 38-15, Friday night to clinch second place in Class 2A District 3 and earn a home playoff game.

'We feel good about our running game,” first-year Beckman Coach Jim Derr said. 'We have a nice line up front, and we have a nice tandem running for us in Tyler Hirsch and Liam O'Connor. They've done well for us all year.”

O'Connor got out to a fast start with two touchdowns in the opening quarter, the second a 65-yard sprint up the right seam to put the Blazers up 14-0. O'Connor finished with 123 yards rushing on 11 carries, added 56 receiving yards and even completed a pass for 12 yards.

'Hirsch put on a good block,” O'Connor said. 'We had a beautiful cutback lane and it was just wide open.”

Beckman (7-2, 5-1) pushed its lead to 21-0 before CPU (6-3, 4-2) got on the board midway through the second quarter. Quarterback Clayton Kramer hit receiver Alec Burke down the left sideline for 51 yards, and three plays later the connection worked again for a 20-yard score to pull the Stormin' Pointers within 21-7 less than eight minutes before halftime.

But Beckman and quarterback Conner Klostermann had an answer, marching 67 yards in 14 plays, culminating in a 7-yard touchdown burst by Hirsch for a three-touchdown lead with about a minute to halftime.

'That was huge for us,” said Klostermann, who threw for 160 yards, including a 45-yard strike to Carter Boekholder. 'You could kind of feel in the stadium the momentum shifting over to CPU a little bit. We just wanted to come out and run our offense, run it correctly and we'd be just fine.”

Hirsch finished with 145 yards to pass the 1,000-yard mark this season. Beckman, which has shut out five opponents, limited CPU to just five first downs and 135 total yards.

CPU tailback Brandon Kinsey, who entered the game fourth in Class 2A with 1,104 yards, had 19 yards on 15 carries.

Bret Kluesner returned an interception 17 yards to close the scoring for Beckman.

Dyersville Beckman 38

Center Point-Urbana 15

AT DYERSVILLE

CPU DB

First downs 5 16

Rushes-yards 22-33 47 - 274

Passing-yards 102 172

Comp-att-int 8-21-2 9-17-0

Punts-avg. 5-32.2 2-36.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-37 9-64

Center Point-Urbana 0 7 8 0-15

Dyersville Beckman 14 17 0 7-38

DB - Liam O'Connor 1 run (Dillon Keegan kick)

DB - O'Connor 65 run (Keegan kick)

DB - Carter Boekholder 45 pass from Conner Klostermann (Keegan kick)

CPU - Alec Burke 20 pass from Clayton Kramer (Kramer kick)

DB - Tyler Hirsch 7 run (Keegan kick)

DB - Keegan 24 kick

CPU - Brandon Kinsey 1 run (Kramer pass to McCauley)

DB - Bret Kluesner 17 interception return (Keegan kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - CPU: Brandon Kinsey 15-19, Clayton Kramer 1-(minus 11), Jo Jo Frost 4-11, Sam Gosnell 2-14; DB: Tyler Hirsch 31-145, Liam OConnor 11-123, Jake Grover 2-3, Conner Klostermann 3-3.

Passing - CPU: Clayton Kramer 8-20-2-102, Alec Burke 0-1-0-0; DB: Conner Klostermann 8-16-0-160, Liam OConnor 1-1-0-12.

Receiving - CPU: Alec Burke 3-95, Jace Jirak 2-7, Mason McCauley 2-(minus 8), Strad Houtakker 1-8; DB: Carter Boekholder 4-83, Liam O'Connor 3-56, Nick Fallon 1-21, Conner Klostermann 1-12.