BALTIC – After taking a loss to Parker on September 1, the Fliers came into Baltic ready to play and it showed as they racked up 334 yards of offense taking a 34-20 win over the Bulldogs.
“It was fun to see our boys get some chunk yardage on offense” said Coach Josh Edlund stating his line got push on both sides of the ball, the receivers caught the ball well, the backs ran hard, and the team made good decisions with the ball.
“That gave us a lot of confidence throughout the game.”
The team had three touchdowns in the air (Micah Otto, Alex Poitra, Ben Ballard) and two rushing scores (Karter Headrick, Ballard).
The Fliers’ first touchdown came after 74-yard scoring drive highlighted with a couple great catches by junior Otto. Quarterback Paul Parsley connected with Otto for a 39-yard gain and then three plays later, hit Otto again for a 17-yard touchdown. Xavier Bien split the goal posts for the extra point as the Fliers led 7-0 with 9:58 remaining in the half.
The Bulldogs scored from third and goal on the Flier five-yard line, but the Flier defense blocked the PAT.
The Fliers would score twice more in the first half. They marched from their own 40-yard line before Ballard crossed the goal line with a four-yard run at the 1:23 mark. Again, Bien’s kick was good.
On the ensuing kick-off, Baltic fumbled on the return and the Fliers recovered on the Bulldog’s 42-yard line. After a Baltic time out, the Fliers used their “hook and ladder” play, which was one of the night’s top highlights for all to watch. Parsley took the snap, threw a short pass to Kody Kneebone who pitched the ball back to Headrick, who sped down the sideline to score with 1:04 left on the clock. This time Bien’s kick was blocked, but the Fliers headed into the half with a 20-6 edge.
Both teams scored in the third quarter. Flandreau’s came on a 14-yard pass play from Parsley to Poitra at the 3:42 mark. Bien’s PAT was good. Baltic made an 8-yard touchdown, but the extra point was unsuccessful.
Flandreau’s last score came on a 22-yard pass from Parsley connecting with Ballard with 1:28 left in the game. Bien PAT was good.
The Bulldogs scored with 11 seconds left and converted the 2-point pass play to set the final score at 34-20.
“Coaches Garrett Carr, Brandon Peters and Joe Parsley were all seeing the field well and suggesting great plays and adjustments all night,” said Edlund.
“We were able to get great feedback from our players to help us make the correct adjustments to keep the offense rolling.”
On offense, Headrick led the rushing effort with 101 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. Ballard had 15 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown and caught one pass for the 22-yard score.
Parsley also had 28 rushing yards in six attempts. He connected 10 of 19 in passing for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
Otto caught three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, Kneebone caught four for 38 yards and Poitra brought down two for 22 yards and a score.
“We have some things to clean up as we had more than a few holding penalties,” noted Edlund.
On the defensive side of the ball, Edlund says that his players performed well, and they have some things to correct, but he added the defense came up big when needed.
“We had a lot of guys getting to the ball,” he said. “Coach Parsley stressed that this week in their defensive game plan and the players responded well.”
The defense was led by several players starting with Brendan Peterson with eight total tackles and a fumble recovery. Justin Klein was in on seven, Ballard, six and Parsley, five while Matthew Gassman had four tackles and helped break up three Bulldog passes.
“There was good execution in all three phases of the game. Our special teams also worked hard and hustled down the field as well. It was a good game for us to hopefully build some momentum going into the second half of the season,” he added.
The Fliers, 2-2, will host the 0-4 Beresford Watchdogs this Friday at Jim McGlone Field. Kick-off is 7 p.m.

Too late for last week
FLANDREAU – The Fliers held their home opener on September losing 35-7 to the Parker Pheasants.
Parker took advantage of Flier miscues and scored two of their five touchdowns off turnovers.
The Fliers lone score came when Ben Ballard run over the goal line with 27 seconds left in the game. Xavier Bien’s extra point kick was good.
Flandreau only earned 120 of total offense. Ballard earned 51 of the 70 rushing yards from nine carries. Quarterback Paul Parsley was 9 of 17 in passing for 50 yards.
On defense, Justin Klein had a team high 10 tackles.
Parker piled up the stats amassing 340 yards on offense; 169 via the pass and 171 on the ground.