BERESFORD – The Flier football team ended the regular season both on the road and on a high note with a 35-7 trouncing of the Beresford Watchdogs.
Flandreau amassed 487 yards on offense with 274 coming through the air from the arm of quarterback Paul Parsley and 213 team yards on the ground from four players.
Cam Flute caught four of Parsley’s passes gaining 177 yards and Luke Sheppard caught two passes for 69 yards. Both players scored two passing touchdowns.
Parsley finished eight of 12 in passing yards.
Karter Headrick carried the ball 12 times busting through for 99 yards to lead the Fliers. Parsley kept the ball six times for 56 yards and Ben Ballard had the ball seven times for 43 yards and the only Flier rushing touchdown.
Flute also carried the ball three times for 15 yards, and Ballard and Headrick each had one catch for 19 and nine yards respectively.
“It was a great day for us all around on offense,” said Coach Josh Edlund.
“Paul Parsley had a record setting day* with 274 yards passing and four touchdowns. Cam Flute also had a single game record* for receiving with 177 yards and two touchdowns. Karter Headrick ran very hard and got our running game going with 12 carries and 99 yards. Ben Ballard had 62 total yards and a TD as well,” noted Edlund.
“Coach (Garrett) Carr had a great game plan; things worked very well.”
“He called a great game,” he said adding, “Our offensive line was winning a lot of battles up front. Everything started with those guys working as hard as they did.”
The game wasn’t all roses as the first Flier pass thrown was intercepted in Flier territory, and the Watchdogs quickly used the turnover and found the endzone for a 16 yard score. The PAT kick was good and the Watchdogs led 58 seconds into the game, but would never lead again.

The Fliers regrouped and used the next five minutes to march downfield and found themselves first and goal from the nine when Parsley connected with Sheppard to score.
Neither team scored again in the first quarter.
Flandreau scored twice in the second period.
At third and five from their own 36, the Fliers called a crucial time out and on the next play, Parsley found an open Flute for a 64 yard touchdown.
With 9.9 seconds showing before the halftime buzzer sounded, Flute ran in a 36 yard touchdown to set the score at 21-7 heading into the break.
On their first possession in the third, Headrick broke through for a 37 yard run and four plays later, Ballard crossed the goal line to give the Fliers’ their fourth touchdown of the night.
And they weren’t done yet.
The Fliers’ final scoring drive started at their own 30. Ballard scampered 19 yards for a big gain but a holding penalty moved them back to the 37. A couple snaps later, Parsley found a wide open Sheppard for a 60 yard touchdown pass with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
With a minute left, Flute, who already had a big offensive night, stepped up big on defense and intercepted a Watchdog pass in the Flier endzone to put the icing on the cake.
Also in the scoring mix was Xavier Bien who was a perfect five-for-five in extra point kicks.
The defense was led by a slew of Fliers. Justin Klein led all tackles with nine, and Parsley, Ballard and Kody Kneebone each had seven tackles. Gauge Ballard also had five tackles and sacked the Watchdog quarterback and Kneebone recovered a fumble.
“Defensively, Coach (Joe) Parsley had a great game plan as well,” said Edlund.
“We knew what they were going to try to do and we were prepared for it. Our defensive line got into the quarterback’s lap a bunch, and our defensive backs played with very good eyes all game.”
“Flute had a nice pick towards the end of the game, and Kneebone recovered a fumble. Defensively, it was a great team win.”
Edlund also credited Coach Brandon Peters for a great scouting report on the special teams.
“We were able to limit their opportunities to get anything going on special teams.”
Flandreau ended the regular season with a 5-3 record.
The Fliers now find themselves as the 13th seed in Class 11B and will return south to Elk Point Thursday to face the EPJ Huskies, the fourth seed, once more. Kickoff is a bit earlier than usual at 6:30. p.m.

*Earlier this season, in the Baltic game, Parsley had broken Tanner Christenson’s single game passing record of 201 yards from 2021.
** Flute’s four receptions for 177 yards broke Kyle Wiese’s record from 1999 of nine receptions and 155 yards.