The Pine City Dragons hosted the Braham Bombers to open their season Thursday. This was the first matchup of the Dragons and Bombers on the gridiron since September 24, 2014. The Bombers still run the same spread offense as they did in 2014, but the Dragons were introducing a new offense on Thursday night. The team plans to rely heavily on the power-t offense this fall. The plans to run this offense plan to include Konnor Jusczak at quarterback, but they were without him on Thursday night.
Behind Jusczak in the program, the next players at the quarterback position are sophomores Jimmy Lindblom and Dylan Peterson. Coach Jared Polzine and company chose to go in a direction with a little more experience on Thursday, though. The team went with a player that has been a running back throughout his time in the program, Duke Waxberg.
With a running back playing the role of quarterback, the team relied heavily on the run game against the Bombers. Tryston West led the team in rushing yards with 156 yards. West had one run of almost fifty yards to score the opening touchdown on the Dragons first drive of the season. The other two touchdowns for the Dragons were both scored on quarterback sneaks by Duke Waxberg.
The Bombers offense relied heavily on senior running back, Luke Bendickson. He scored two of the team’s touchdowns and converted all three of the team’s two point conversions. The other touchdown was scored by quarterback Hayden Lee. Lee’s touchdown was a fake to Bendickson. He pulled the ball away and ran 68 yards for the score.
This week the Dragons will travel up to Two Harbors to face the Agates. The Agates lost to Cloquet 30-15 last week. Two Harbors will run a very compact offense similar to the offense of the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels. The game will be on Friday at 7. The game will be broadcasted live on 106.5 FM, 1350 AM, or streamed live at wcmpradio.com
Photo Credit: Lancelot Furber
