Photo by Ron Mayer
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t dominating. It was a bit feisty. When Lanesboro and Houston football get together, it is often times a brawl as the squads vie for the series’ token ‘Bell’. James Semmen’s Burros (4-1) came in amidst a great season. Cody Hungerholt’s Hurricanes (2-3) came in having dominated the series as of late, taking the last five in-season battles plus three play-off games. They’ve won the last eight games between the two teams, with Lanesboro last winning in 2014. The 2020 affair was a low-scoring ground-based game played amidst a light fog. The only score of the first half came as a result of field position and a bad punt. Houston punted from its own end zone late in the second quarter, and the boot only went 10 yards (to the Burro 12 yard-line). Lanesboro went just 12 yards in three plays, as J.T. Rein’s 7-yard TD run finally flipped the scoreboard from all zeros. The Burros led at half 6-0. Houston had drives of 14-plays and 9-plays in the stanza, but couldn’t crack the Lanesboro red zone. The teams again beat at each other between the 20s in the second half. Lanesboro finally amassed a drive early in the fourth, going 60 yards in seven plays. A key personal foul penalty on Houston gave the Burros a first and ten at the 11. Jake Gathje immediately authored an 11-yard TD run. With Seth Semmen’s two-point conversion, the Burros led 14-0. With Lanesboro’s defense pitching a shut-out, that score held as the final. The Burros won their fifth straight, 14-0. The victors ran just 38 plays to Houston’s 56. Hayden Lawstuen (9-47 rushing) was their top yardage getter, followed by Rein (11-37, TD rushing), Semmen (6-26 rushing), and Gathje (6-24, TD rushing). Caiden Olson (15-72 rushing) was Houston’s top rusher. Quarterback Isaac Heyer (21-40 rushing, 8-yard reception), Houston’s most explosive player, was held in check. Despite running 18 more plays, Houston never intruded deeper into the Burros end of the field than the 24-yardline (just before half). Five of their drives ended between the Burro 24 and 40 yard-lines. Burro defensive end Bodie Mayer yielded both Hurricane turnovers, recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass. Lanesboro (5-1) is Section 1 9-Man’s 2-seed and will host 7-seed Kingsland (1-4). Houston (2-4) is the 5-seed and will play at 4-seed Spring Grove (4-2).
Photo by Paul Trende