North Linn intercepts 8 passes in 56-6 win over Bellevue to clinch a spot in the playoffs

TROY MILLS — North Linn football coach Jared Collum takes pride in his team's ball-hawking ability on defense.

Cael Benesh and his teammates took that ball-hawking to an entire different level during Friday night's game with Bellevue.

The Lynx took the ball away from the visitors nine times, including eight interceptions, rolling to a 56-6 victory on a windy, rainy night on North Linn's field.

In a game where the prize was a Class A playoff berth, the Lynx (6-2, 5-2 in District 4) turned away the Comets at every turn. Benesh led the turnover party with four interceptions, returning a pair for touchdowns. Breckyn Betenbender had three picks of his own while Jake Van Etten returned a fumble for a score.

“I've never seen it, never heard of it,” Collum said of a team having eight picks in one game. “And to have one kid with four and taking two back for touchdowns is even more amazing.”

Benesh, a junior, credited practice habits for his historic performance. He had three interceptions in the first 13 minutes of play. He took his third of the game 52 yards for a score on the second play of the second quarter to give the Lynx a 30-0 lead. Benesh took his final pick 42 yards for a TD early in the fourth quarter.

“Everyday we get to our cone drill in practice with (assistant coach Chris Nielsen),” Benesh said. “Tonight, I just dropped back in coverage and made the play on it when it came my way.”

Due to an injury to starting quarterback Hunter Putnam, the Comets turned to sophomore Cam Bonifas who had his struggles in the wet conditions. Bellevue has relied on Putnam's all-around skills at quarterback, but when a wrist injury forced him to play receiver, the Lynx were ready.

“Our coaches let us know that (Putnam) had broken his wrist (last Friday) against Starmont,” Benesh said. “We just had to attack (Bonifas), find his weaknesses. He was floating it a little bit so we just broke on the ball and made some plays.”

With a steady rain falling and a brisk wind coming across the field, Collum knew there was a chance Bonifas might struggle.

“These were some very tough throwing conditions,” the North Linn coach said. “You notice we didn't throw it that much for that very reason. We are not usually an under center team, but we wanted to keep it on the ground and then force them into throwing situations.”

Betenbender didn't hit the end zone with any of his three interceptions, but scored on a pair of short runs. Van Etten had two running scores to go along with his 22-yard fumble return for a TD.

"This is our third year in a row in the playoffs," Collum said. "We're probably going to be a (No.) 4 seed, but our district is tough and it has us prepared to go in as a 4-seed and see what we can do."

North Linn 56, Bellevue 6

(At Troy Mills)

B NL

First downs 12 15

Rushes-yards 32-97 37-169

Passing yards 103 16

Comp-Att-Int 13-33-8 2-7-1

Punts-Avg. 1-30.0 0-00.0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0

Penalties-Yards 6-35 1-5

Bellevue 0 6 0 0 — 6

North Linn 24 12 6 14 — 56

NL — Jake Van Etten 1 run (Breckyn Betenbender run)

NL — Van Etten 17 run (Carter Holtz pass from Van Etten)

NL — Landen Helmrich 5 run (Betenbender run)

NL — Cael Benesh 52 yard interception return (pass failed)

B — Hunter Putman 14 pass from Cal Bonifas (pass failed)

NL — Betenbender 3 run (run failed)

NL — Betenbender 8 run (run failed)

NL — Van Etten 22 fumble return (Betenbender run)

NL — Benesh 42 yard interception return (pass failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Bellevue: Jaden Baskin 11-43, Quintin Pickett 14-56, Cal Bonifas 5-6, Hunter Putman 1-(minus 10), Dalton Clasan 1-2. North Linn: Breckyn Betenbender 15-67, Jake Van Etten 8-72, Landen Helmrich 10-42, Cole Griffith 1-18. Team 3-(minus 20).

PASSING — Bellevue: Cal Bonifas 13-33-8-103. North Linn: Jake Van Etten 2-7-1-16.

RECEIVING — Bellevue: Gavin Roling 3-22, Dalton Clasen 1-2, Keenan Kilburg 4-26, Hunter Putnam 5-53. North Linn: Carter Holtz 1-12, Landen Helmrich 1-4.