SALEM – The Flandreau Flier football team tried to spoil the homecoming celebration at Gene Danielson Field in Salem, but the McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars wanted no part of it. They handed the Fliers their first loss of the season, 20-13.
“Our boys played hard and fought to the end, but this one didn’t go our way,” said Coach Josh Edlund.
“We had good efforts on offense and defense.”
Flandreau led 7-0 through one quarter but the Fighting Cougars scored 13 in the next two quarters to take a 13-7 lead into the fourth. MCM then outscored Flandreau 7-6 in the final quarter to get the seven-point victory.

Paul Parsley was 7-of-19 with 66 yards through the air and two touchdowns. Micah Otto had one catch for a 20 yard score in the first quarter and Ben Ballard had one catch for 15 yards that went for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Alex Poitra had four catches for 26 yards.
The Fliers had 108 yards on the ground. Justin Klein had 10 carries for 42 yards. Parsley had 26 yards rushing and Poitra had 14.
“The first quarter and half we were able to run the ball well,” said Edlund. “We need to do a better job of finishing drives. We weren’t able to get the job done as well in the second half but our boys still played hard.”
Klein led the Flier defense amassing 18 tackles (6 solo). Ballard had 11 tackles (4 solo) and recovered a fumble and Parsley made six tackles (4 solo). The Fliers picked the Cougar off twice, once by Parsley and once by Otto.
“Our defense really did well and they were holding them to short to no gains consistently,” he noted.
“They never quit. I am proud of our guys for their efforts. As a coaching staff we need to do a better job of making adjustments. I need time do a better job of seeing the field and putting our boys in the best position to succeed.”
Flandreau fell to 4-1 and has a bye this week. The Fliers will host Sioux Valley on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. for the final home game of the season.