The Rushford-Peterson football team went on the road to an unfamiliar place and came away with their first win of the season last week. The Trojans beat Bethlehem Academy in Faribault 39-18, evening their mark at 1-1 overall (0-0 sub-district). R-P coach Davin Thompson said the team jumped out to a 14-0 lead and the coaches could see the players’ confidence growing.
“I loved the way our kids responded after the Blooming Prairie loss,” he said. “We had a good week of practice and talked about being more physical. Against BP, we were tentative and not aggressive. The coaches know the kids are going to make mistakes, but we want them to be aggressive mistakes. We don’t want them second-guessing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
The Trojans had to overcome some adversity at the start of the game during the opening kickoff. “We had a nice wall (of blockers) set up,” Thompson said. “The kid from BA made a good tackle on Kobe Lind and forced a fumble. Right away it felt like ‘here we go again.’ However, the defense stepped up, got a stop, and gave us the ball back.
“Right away, Malachai Bunke threw a pass to Kobe, we got Triton Meldahl going, and our offensive line did a good job up front,” he added. “They did a good job of opening holes as well as protecting (quarterback) Malachai (Bunke). They were physical without trying to do too much.”
Trojan running backs took advantage of the good blocking, tallying up 32 carries for 369 yards and three touchdowns, averaging a spectacular 11.5 yards per rush. Triton Meldahl played a big part in the ground game, rushing 23 times for 262 yards (11.3 yards per carry) and two TDs. Lind had two carries for an amazing 66 yards and the other rushing TD, while Peyton Morrison added another three carries and 31 yards.
Bunke, in his second career start, completed nine of 14 passes (64%) for 120 yards and two touchdowns. His longest throw was a 21-yarder. Justin Ruberg (56 yards receiving) and Lind (56 yards) each caught one of his two TD throws. Thompson said the young QB did a nice job of distributing the football.