Beckman’s Owen Huehnergarth runs over and through Monticello

MONTICELLO — A young kid from Monticello, maybe a fifth-grader, interrupted Owen Huehnergarth mid-sentence during a postgame interview.

“Hey,” the kid said. “Nice game.”

The kid knew.

Huehnergarth ran through, and sometimes ran over, Monticello defenders as Class 1A ninth-ranked Dyersville Beckman rolled to a 48-21 non-district football victory Friday night at Dean Nelson Field.

“We’re not the fastest team, but we’re physical,” Huehnergarth said after rushing for 272 yards on 41 bruising carries. He scored four touchdowns, including a 41-yarder in the fourth quarter in which he ran over one tackler and slipped through another.

“I love physical contact. I love hitting people,” he said. “It fuels me.”

He seemed to have more of that fuel in the tank in the second half after the Blazers (3-0) sprinted away from what had been a competitive game early.

“I tell these guys, this is the team I wanted to have four years ago,” Beckman Coach Mark Atwater said. “I love offensive-line play.”

So he has to love these fellas up front. The Blazers run out of a tight set, but still create some big holes.

And Huehnergarth wasn’t the only back to benefit. Nick Wulfekuhle added 90 yards on seven carries and scored a pair of TDs.

The Blazers finished with 461 yards, 402 on the ground.

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Class 2A eighth-rated Monticello (2-1) battled the Blazers to a 13-13 draw through the first 20 minutes, but Cayden Gassmann connected with Padraig Gallagher for a 46-yard touchdown strike with 54 seconds left before intermission to put the Blazers in front to stay, 20-13.

Beckman scored on its first four possessions of the second half, extending the advantage to 48-13 and invoking the continuous clock for a while.

“We’ve got some depth,” Atwater said. “We can rotate guys. And for a 1A or 2A team, that’s huge.”

Huehnergarth scored the Blazers’ first three TDs of the second half, on runs of 16, 41 and 4 yards, then Wulfekuhle got loose for 59.

Monticello’s Preston Ries and Caleb Sauser hooked up on three touchdown passes. Ries threw for 262 yards (but three interceptions), and Sauser caught six passes for 178 yards.

Both teams open district play next week. Monticello hosts Tipton in 2A District 5; Beckman welcomes Cascade in 1A District 4.

Dyersville Beckman 48, Monticello 21

AT MONTICELLO

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: Beck 22, Monti 11

Rushes-yards: Beck 57-402, Monti 19-54

Passing yards: Beck 59, Monti 262

Passing: Beck 5-7-1, Monti 10-24-3

Total yards: Beck 461, Monti 316

Fumbles-lost: Beck 5-0, Monti 2-0

Punts-average: Beck 0-00.0, Monti 3-28.0

Penalties-yards: Beck 5-20, Monti 5-46

SCORING SUMMARY

Beckman 6 14 14 14 -- 48

Monticello 7 6 0 8 -- 21

Monti -- Caleb Sauser 28 pass from Preston Ries (Christian Castillo kick)

Beck -- Owen Huehnergarth 1 run (kick failed)

Beck -- Nick Wulfekuhle 9 run (Logan Burchard kick)

Monti -- Sauser 39 pass from Ries (kick blocked)

Beck -- Padraig Gallagher 46 pass from Cayden Gassmann (Burchard kick)

Beck -- Huehnergarth 16 run (Burchard kick)

Beck -- Huehnergarth 41 run (Burchard kick)

Beck -- Huehnergarth 4 run (Burchard kick)

Beck -- Wulfekuhle 59 run (Burchard kick)

Monti -- Sauser 28 pass from Ries (Gage Guilford pass from Tate Petersen)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Beckman -- Owen Huehnergarth 41-272, Nick Wulfekuhle 7-90, Johan Platel 3-33, Cayden Gassmann 3-9, Lane Kramer 1-1. Monticello -- Preston Ries 14-37, Rylan Cooper 4-17, Caleb Sauser 1-0.

Passing

Beckman -- Gassmann 5-7-1-59. Monticello -- Ries 10-24-3-262.

Receiving

Beckman -- Luke Schlietz 2-8, Padraig Gallagher 1-46, Eric Heinrichs 1-7, Huehnergarth 1-(minus 2). Monticello -- Caleb Sauser 6-178, Peyton Schilling 2-36, Eian Weber 1-41, Caden Sternhagen 1-7.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com