Nolan Kriegel scores 10 touchdowns in Iowa Valley’s 76-67 high school football victory over BGM

BROOKLYN — Iowa Valley’s Nolan Kriegel doesn’t focus on statistics.

Sure, he will wait to mull them over after a game, but not even the sophomore quarterback could ignore the gaudy numbers he was producing.

“I knew during halftime my numbers were pretty good,” Kriegel said. “I try not to think about that and keep running hard and doing what I can do.”

Kriegel tallied 10 touchdowns, rushing for eight and passing for two more, in a 76-67 victory over host BGM Friday night in an 8-Player non-district season-opening high school football game. He amassed 426 offensive yards, rushing for 305 yards on 34 carries.

Kriegel’s previous single-game varsity best was eight touchdowns in a 78-77 first-round playoff win over BGM last fall.

“When I ran the ball my backfield and line did phenomenal blocking for me and I can just do what I want to do. That helps a lot,” said Kriegel, who also hit Caleb Haack for two scoring strikes. “I have Caleb and a bunch of dudes. I can just throw it up and hope they can do their job.

“It’s pretty easy when I have boys like that to throw to and block for me.”

Kriegel accounted for 85 percent of the Tigers’ 498 offensive yards, rushing or passing for three-quarters of Iowa Valley’s offensive plays.

Kriegel ran roughshod over BGM, scoring on runs of 8, 2, 24, 59, 63 and 1 and powering Iowa Valley to a 54-29 halftime lead. He added 1-yard and 22-yard TD rushes after the break. Kriegel hit Haack for TD passes of 21 and 12 yards.

“He plays a huge part,” Iowa Valley Coach Casey Krull said. “Our offense is built around him a little bit. He’s a dynamic runner. I think you were able to see that tonight.

“The guys up front did a heck of a job. So did our running backs lead blocking and wide receivers for what they did. It’s nice to have a guy like Nolan that you know can carry the load.”

The Tigers (1-0) were propelled by a fortuitous start. They forced and recovered a fumble on BGM’s first offensive snap. On the next play, Kriegel scored on an 8-yard run and followed with a 2-point conversion just 14 seconds into the game.

“That fumble right away out of the shoot that got us up 8-0 was huge,” Krull said. “The defense made plays when they needed to make them.”

BGM (0-1) answered Iowa Valley early. Less than a minute later, Beau Burns ran for an 11-yard TD and hit Tucker Wright to tie the game. Kriegel capped a six-play, 45-play drive with a 2-yard run to regain the lead.

The Bears’ Tate Martin returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards for a score, tying it at 16-16 with 8:31 left in the first quarter.

Kriegel scored two straight TDs for a 30-16 lead and an edge that remained most of the game. The teams combined for 53 points in the opening quarter, which is indicative of the shootouts between the two programs.

“Got to give a lot of credit to BGM,” Krull said. “They do a lot of nice things. They’re going to be a really good football team this year. So, to go toe-to-toe with those guys is good. Our last three meetings have been absolute barn burners back and forth.

“It was great coming out on top of that.”

BGM Coach Jerod Burns said they challenged the Bears at halftime. They responded and stayed in it until the final minutes. Beau Burns played a big factor, rushing for three and passing for three TDs.

The younger Burns finished with five passing scores and four on the ground with 415 offensive yards.

“I thought he played really hard tonight, especially after the first half,” Jerod Burns said about his quarterback. “He got banged around. I thought during the course of last year he didn’t really show toughness and toward the end of the year he came out of his shell.

“He showed us how tough he was and I really thought that was a good start for him this year.”

Burns ran for a 2-yard TD to cut the deficit to 15 with about seven minutes left. He hit Martin for an 18-yard TD pass. Martin finished with 83 receiving yards and Dakota Heishman added 103 receiving yards and two scores.

“I felt we played better in the second half,” Burns said. “We still didn’t play well. We played better. I like the fact that we didn’t roll over and show our bellies and came back to make some plays in the second half.”

The Tigers kept it a two-possession game by blocking two straight extra-point attempts.

The Tigers converted eight conversions for 16 points, while BGM had two with three successful PATs, resulting in a 16-7 difference. The advantage was enough for the winning margin.

“Down the stretch, some extra-point blocks were big,” Krull said. “Every single play matters.”

Recommended Reading

Photos: Iowa Valley at BGM in high school football

Iowa Valley 76, BGM 67

AT BRROKLYN

IV BGM

First Downs 19 14

Rushes-yards 51-377 31-187

Passing yards 121 229

Comp-att-int 7-15-0 13-21-0

Total yards 498 416

Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-2

Punts-avg. 1-34.0 3-30.0

Penalties-yards 4-30 11-85

Iowa Valley 30 24 16 6 -- 76

BGM 23 6 21 17 -- 67

IV– Nolan Kriegel 8 run (Kriegel rush)

BGM – Beau Burns 11 run (Burns pass to Tucker Wright)

IV – Kriegel 2 run (Kriegel pass to Owen Bral)

BGM – Tate Martin 62 kickoff return (Burns rush)

IV – Kriegel 24 run (Kriegel pass to Bral)

IV – Kriegel 59 run (rush failed)

BGM – Dakota Heishman 37 pass from Burns (Heishman kick)

IV – Caleb Haack 21 pass from Kriegel (Kriegel pass to Ian Smith)

BGM – Heishman 27 pass from Burns (pass fail)

IV – Kriegel 63 run (Kriegel pass to Haack)

IV – Kriegel 1 run (Kriegel pass to Smith)

BGM – Burns 38 run (Heishman kick)

IV – Kriegel 1 run (Kriegel pass to Haack)

BGM – Wright 10 pass from Burns (attempt failed)

IV – Haack 12 pass from Kriegel (Kriegel pass to Bral)

BGM – Martin 20 pass from Burns (Heishman kick)

BGM – Burns 1 run (kick failed)

IV – Kriegel 22 run (pass failed)

BGM – Burns 2 run (kick blocked)

BGM – Martin 18 pass from Burns (kick blocked)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Iowa Valley: Kriegel 34-305, Chance Hoyt 3-38, Smith 6-18, Team 4-8, Dane Smith 3-4, Layne Peska 1-4. BGM: Burns 30-186, Landon Hassett 1-1.

PASSING – Iowa Valley: Kriegel 7-15-0-121. BGM: Burns 13-21-0-229.

RECEIVING – Iowa Valley: Haack 2-33, I. Smith 2-19, Bral 1-53, D. Smith 1-10, Hoyt 1-6. BGM: Martin 6-83, Heishman 3-103, Hassett 2-26, Wright 2-17.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com