Beaver Dam Wins Homecoming Game

By BOB SNELL

The Progress

Beaver Dam didn’t mind waiting an extra two days to play it’s Homecoming game. After officials failed to show up for Thursday’s kickoff, the game was rescheduled for Saturday afternoon.

The Diamondbacks, who dressed just nine players, dominated play from start to finish in posting a 46-0 victory over visiting Mountain View Christian School of Las Vegas at the Snake Pit.

The win also snapped a three-year losing streak for the Diamondback program, the last win coming in September of 2018.

“This feels great to finally win,” BDHS first-year year head coach Bryan Schmersal said. “We felt (Mountain View) was a good match up for us.”

Mountain View dressed 10 players, unlike some of the teams the D-Backs have faced.
“We’ve had games where opposing teams have had twenty kids on the sideline,” Schmersal said. “We were fortunate that no one got hurt. We’ve worked hard to get kids out and have enough players to play. This win will be great for morale.”

The D-Backs, who improved to 1-2 on the season, scored on their first four possessions to assume a 32-0 lead at halftime.

Breck Howell scored on a 5-yard run and quarterback Ronald Frates ran three yards for a score with Irvin Soto running in both two-point conversions to give Beaver Dam a 16-0 advantage after one quarter.

Frates, who passed for 101 yards and rushed 11 times for 101 yards, scrambled 44 yards for a touchdown and Westin Gustavason ran four yards for a score in the second as the D-Backs increased their margin to 32-0.

“We have a mobile quarterback who reacted well to the situation,” Schmersal said. “I thought Ronald did a great job.”

Soto caught a 35-yard TD pass from Frates with 4:30 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 38-0. Soto capped the scoring rumbling 47 yards for a touchdown with 58 seconds remaining in the contest.

On the defensive side of the ball, Soto was unblockable recording six quarterback sacks while Howell was all over the field from his linebacker spot, delivering several hard hits. Yahir Salas had two sacks and several tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Lorenzo Cortez, Erick Gonzalez, Dan Frates, and Juan Santos also contributed to the victory.
“I thought our guys did a great job,” Schmersal said. “We maintained control of the ball on offense and made big plays on defense.”

Beaver Dam will host Green Valley Christian of Henderson on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Snake Pit.