#23 Brendan Peterson makes a big open field tackle to stop the bulldogs in their tracks.

FLANDREAU The first Homecoming win in nine years is in the books as the Flandreau Fliers defeated Baltic last Friday, 28-12 to cap off the week’s festivities.
“They played well, went to battle with each other and came out on top working hard and earning every bit of that victory,” said Head Flier Coach Josh Edlund.
It took two possessions, but the Fliers scored first when Lane Johanson intercepted a Bulldog pass deep in Flier territory and on the next play, Flier sophomore Paul Parsley connected with Kolby Peters in the end zone for a 15 yard score. Xavier Bien kicked the point after with 6:39 left in the first quarter.
Baltic quickly came back and scored at the 3:51 mark on a 15 yard touchdown run. The PAT pass failed setting the score at 7-6 where it stayed throughout the quarter.
A 65 yard scoring march resulted in a Johanson two yard run with 8:46 left in the second and Bien kicked another successful extra point to place the score a 14-6.
The third period was scoreless for both teams, but two minutes into the fourth, Parsley and Peters paired again this time for a two yard pass. Bien kicked the extra point for a 21-6 score.
The teams traded possessions before Baltic took advantage of a mishandled Flier punt giving them possession on the Flier 37 yard line. They scored two plays later on a 10 yard pass, but the PAT failed and then Fliers still led, 21-12.
The Fliers’ next possession resulted from a 4th and 11 on the Baltic 21 when Parsley found Ethan Hoffman alone in the end zone with 2:33 left in the game. Bien hit the extra point again, going 4-for-4 on the night, and the final score ended at 28-12.
“Our offensive line had great communication between each other and with us coaches,” said Edlund. “Gary Moose is a vault of information when he comes of the field and gives important information to us about what is happening in the trenches. Isaiah Fisherman had a great first game back from his injury last year; he was aggressive and allowed our run game to gain steam.”
The Fliers amassed 310 total yards of offense. Quarterback Parsley was 17 of 26, 167 yards and three passing touchdowns, and the running game netted 143 yards.
Hoffman caught seven of those passes for 77 yards and a touchdown, and Peters received four for 52 yards with two TDs. Karter Headrick also caught four passes for 25 yards
On the ground, Hoffman neared the 100 yard mark but came up shy with 91 yards from 15 carries. Johanson also ran the ball 15 times for 59 yards with one touchdown.
“Our defense played well and shut down their run game which allowed our defensive backs to focus on their jobs and play good pass defense as well,” said Edlund.
The Fliers held the Bulldogs to 145 total yards.
“Ben Ballard had a great game on defense coming up with many good tackles at critical moments. Brendan Peterson had a great pass defense game, Headrick and Gauge Ballard made a huge impact and helped shut down Baltic’s option plays.”
Ben Ballard and Hoffman were both in on nine tackles with Ballard getting four solos (two for loss). Peters and Johanson both made six tackles.
“Overall, it was a great experience and really fun for our guys to win on homecoming night,” added Edlund.
Flandreau, 2-2, will travel to Beresford on Friday. Kickoff between the Fliers and Watchdogs is set for 7 p.m.

From Sept. 2
Flandreau 8, Parker 2
PARKER – The Fliers took an early 8-0 lead on a pick-six from Lane Johanson and did not give up a touchdown the rest of the way.
On third and 15 from the Fliers’ 25 yard line, Johanson picked off Pheasant quarterback Ray Travnicek with just under seven minutes to go in the first and took it all the way to the house. Paul Parsley found Ethan Hoffman on the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.
“Our boys played very hard against Parker,” said Edlund.
“We had a lot of great effort from our boys.”
The Flier defense shined in the game as they stopped Parker from scoring several times. Flandreau intercepted the Pheasants four times: Johanson’s pick six, Hoffman near the goal line, Tison Burggraff in the end zone and Ben Ballard’s pick stopped the final scoring drive with 29 seconds left in the game.
The defense also made three sacks, and had five tackles for loss. Hoffman and Kolby Peters were in on nine and eight tackles respectively, Johanson had seven and Willian Lone Bear made six.
Parsley was 8-for-15 with 101 yards. Johanson led the Fliers in rushing with 34 yards on 11 carries. Hoffman had four receptions for 29 yards.
Parker’s only points came on a safety with 6:02 to go in the game.