By Bruce Karnick and Mark Erickson

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Coming into the game both the Hastings Raiders and the Apple Valley Eagles come into the game 0-1-0. The Raiders dropping their first in the rain to Chanhassen and 6 to 23. And the Eagles dropped their first in Mahtomedi 7 to 37. But this game ended up being all Raiders.

From the opening kickoff return that Tom Kennedy brought 43 yards back over the 50-yard line to the bend but don’t brake defense the Raiders played, Hastings never seemed to be in trouble at any point of the game. Even after a muffed snap on the first punt attempt, the Raiders were able to bail themselves out with an interception from Danny Milner inside the five.

Offensively, the Raiders found an identity in the run game, a two up-back set led by Payton Burow. Burow carried the ball 21 times for 101 yards, a five-yard average. Axel Arnold averaged seven yards going 85 yards on 12 carries. Brendan Freiermuth carried the ball nine times for 89 yards and one touchdown, which was good for 3.22 yards per carry.

Burow gave credit for his success to his big dogs on the line. “Mostly it was just the blocking up front. My O-line they were they’re doing really good today, making clear holes and everything. My quarterback let me know what to do where the hole is gonna be. All my guys on the field at the time, just helping me out.”

Talking about the history of Apple Valley being a tough team, Burow tipped his hat to the Eagles for their play. “Oh, yeah, I know. We prepare for it all week. And they came over here and they fought. And, you know, I respect them for that. It was just a good game.”

The Raiders run game did have it’s struggles early on in the game, that is when they made a shift to a heavy backfield, and they started rotating tailbacks. The line up with Brenden Freiermuth at tailback Tom Reifenberger and John Chorlton at up-backs seemed to give the Raiders the spark they have been looking for.

The offensive line along with the big-bodied backs moved the pile on every play. Ben Wit, Owan Glade, Cody Vinje, Austin Leflay, Carson Thuet, Pacer Ruble and Jake Landoll-Bleed loved the opportunity to go out and just drive the defensive lineman across form them down the field. Something that was evident on Freiermuth’s score. After proving that they could pound the ball with Freiermuth, Hastings brought in the smaller shiftier Payton Burow, who broke a couple of really nice runs. The coaches have been waiting to see that out of Burow for a couple of years. Freiermuth and Burow have completely different styles so it should work well if they keep splitting time. Freiermuth is a north/south, downhill runner, who has great speed and hits the holes hard. Burow is more of the east/west runners that really looks to break it up a hole after stringing it out. But with the way the Raiders were moving the line Burow had a couple nice run up the gut also.

Wit, starting Center and Defensive Tackle was pleased with the offensive line play against a solid defensive line. “They had some big guys. They competed hard. But we just we stayed low. We were at a lower level than they were, and we were able to move them.”

The passing game had successes too with Arnold tossing two touchdowns to Bezdicek and Reifenberger. The completion percentage was not great, but 9/15 is good for 60%, two touchdowns and 82 yards. As noted above, Arnold made some big plays with his legs, getting a big first down late in the game to seal it for the Raiders. Arnold is a big strong quarterback that got a chance to show some of his athletic abilities during the game.

The Raiders offensive successes carried over to the defensive side of the ball too. John Chorlton, Tom Reifenberger and Freiermuth played really well against the Eagles running game holding the Eagles to 25 yards on the ground, and the defensive backfield for the Raiders really shut the passing game down. The interception early in the game by Milner set a tone for the defensive back field. The Eagles tried to go over the top a couple of times in the game with Ben Clemens doing a good job not letting anyone get behind him, and when the Eagles tried to come underneath Sophomore Luke Chorlton was up for the task. The Raiders only gave up six pass completions with 14 attempts for 34 yards. Luke Chorlton also did a nice job coming up in run support as did Sorensen and Milner.

Defensively, Wit pointed out some similarities for winning the battle of the trenches. “staying low, like I said for offense. Doing our job dropping me from getting double teamed, doing our job consistently every single play.”

The Raider had a number of key sacks too, Wit explained the successes there. “I think momentum has a lot to do with it. We are able to gather our defense pretty well, when it comes down to it. We have the right guys out there that love to blitz and they love to get off fast and hit hard.”

A big defensive difference was the ‘swarm the ball’ mentality.

“We’ve spent a lot of time practicing that all week long. Every single practice there are two whistles and we all had to get to the running back every single play no matter what.

And so, we’ve spent a lot of time practicing that,” added Wit.

This may have been the most complete game by the Raiders in a long time. You are seeing the experience with this team coming through as so many of them have had the opportunity to play over the years. If they can find and stick with an offensive identity and keep their best athletes all on the field, they could have a really good season.

Head Coach Dana Strain was happy with the play of his Raiders even with the little things they will work to clean up in practice this week. “We played well and made enough plays to win. Early it took us a little bit to kind of find our flow. And I’m very proud of the kids defensively especially, they were on some short fields in the first half, to hang in there and just keep battling and give us a chance. Then we started to get some momentum in the second half and, and our kids ran hard. And so defensively continue to make plays. Just very proud of them. We made enough mistakes to keep things interesting, but we’ll learn from those and some great win for us in a great learning experience.”

Strain was pleased with the cleanliness of the game too with only three penalties on the Raiders. “Our kids are doing a good job of executing and not making the big mental mistakes, just a couple more so physical or little things that we can tweak. And that’s where I say we’ll get better for a moment. It’s a great experience to experience it on a game night and then learn from it and it feels good to win while you’re learning.”

The stands of McNamara Stadium at Todd Field had many witnesses to the success on the field last Thursday night, largely due to the awesome student section that was sorely missed last year. You guys and gals have no idea how much energy you bring to the game, not only for the players, but the coaches, media and other fans. It truly is wonderful to see you in the stands and we hope that you bring a friend or three to the game against Simley Friday night.

Hastings does play host to Simley on Friday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m. The game will feature Parent Night, is also Tackle Cancer Night and the 2001 State Championship team will be recognized. Make sure to come early and bring friends!

What do the Raiders know about Simley?

Wit – “I know, they’re a good team. I know they compete well and they’re gonna bring it, they’re gonna test us. I don’t know how good their record is or how good they are this year, but we have film [Friday] and we’re gonna prepare like we do every other team.”

Burrow – “I don’t know. I haven’t watched film, but I expect they’re a good team as well. And we’re just gonna take this next week to prepare for that.

Athletic Director Trent Hanson would like to remind folks to be in line by 6:30 if you wish to be in your seat in time for kickoff. Anything later and you run the risk of missing the kickoff. Also, all ticket sales are done digitally. That means the only form of payment accepted at the gate is credit card. For more details on the ticket changes, visit www.hastingsathletics. org

#10 Jon Bezdicek celebrates the Raiders first touchdown of the game with #1 Brendan Freiermuth, #57 Stephen Reinardy and #11 Stephen Reifenberger. Bezdicek caught a 26yard pass from QB Axel Arnold with 15 seconds left in the first half of Friday’s 21-0 Victory over Apple Valley. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Jon Bezdicek looks to evade an Eagle defender on one of his three receptions in the 21-0 Raider victory over Apple Valley on Thursday Night. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Payton Burow breaks through the line enroute to lead the Raiders rushing attack. Burow carried the ball 21 times for 101 yards averaging 5 yards per carry. Photo by Bruce Karnick