MONTICELLO – In a game that would’ve made fans of early 20th-century football proud, the Bemidji High School football team put together a bruising 14-7 road win over Monticello in the season opener.
“We knew it was going to be one of those types of games,” BHS head coach Bryan Stoffel said. “They’re a very stout defensive front, and it was going to be one of those grind-it-out football games where you’re going to need to stay ahead of the sticks and come up with big first downs when we have third-and-shorts. I thought, for the majority of the game, we did (that).”
The victory avenges last year’s 28-26 loss to the Magic in the first game of the 2023 season, a loss in which the Jacks’ defense struggled to contain big plays.
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Friday evening was a different story.
On the other side of the ball, senior running back Owen Frazer was the star of the ground game, earning both of the Jacks’ touchdowns with a pair of goal-line carries.
However, just as important in the rushing attack was senior Ephram Boucher, whose consistent positive-yard gains kept the offense chugging along.
“They did a great job, that’s a credit to both of them,” Stoffel said. “They both have different running styles, but one thing they both do a really good job is they run hard, they run physical.”
Though Bemidji’s defense allowed just seven points on the evening, the opening minutes of the game were all Monticello. A three-and-out and a poor BHS punt on its first drive of the night gave its opponent’s offense prime field position.
The Magic cashed in on that great field position as Cale Holthaus punctuated a relatively short drive with a 2-yard touchdown rush, giving his team an early 7-0 lead.
The momentum stayed on Monticello’s side as the Jacks went three-and-out and kicked another short punt for the second straight series. The Magic started off their second drive inside Bemidji’s 35-yard line.
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However, the Lumberjacks' tightened up defensively and made three straight stops. Monticello went for it on fourth-and-12, and an incompletion turned possession back to the visitors.
From there on, Bemidji’s defense was lights out.
That forced turnover on downs also seemed to spark something on the other side of the ball.
“We were just a little bit off here and there, so on the sidelines, we made those adjustments and the defense did a great job giving us a turnover (on downs),” Stoffel said. “(We) got the ball back, and then I felt like we settled in there and our boys were able to just execute the game plan.”
Bemidji’s offense finally found its footing as the running back tandem of Frazer and Boucher took a majority of the carries on the drive. Rush after rush, the rumbling duo pushed the Jacks all the way to Monticello’s doorstep.
Frazer punched it in at the goal line with a 2-yard touchdown to knot up the game 7-7.
“There were multiple times where we had some adverse situations,” Stoffel said. “Some of that (we placed) on ourselves, but regardless, we were able to rally, take a breath and continue to fight and just continue to play. … I was extremely proud of their ability to handle the adversity and that’s part of the reason why we came away with a W.”
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Frazer gave the Lumberjacks’ lead in the third quarter with another short-yard touchdown scamper, and the Magic struggled to put together consistent drives.
Monticello, though, still had a shot to win it in the waning minutes of the fourth.
Following a BHS turnover deep in MHS territory, Monticello had possession with just a few minutes to go and a shot to tie things up.
The Magic notched a couple of completions to keep the chains moving, but again, Bemidji’s defense came up big. The Magic completed a pass in bounds, but with no timeouts left, the clock ran out.
In a reversal of fortunes from a year ago, BHS heads into Labor Day Weekend 1-0.
“What a difference a year makes,” Stoffel said. “The defense didn’t give up any of those big plays. … The boys were playing fast, they were playing confident and they were playing physical. And when you do that in high school football, you’re typically going to be in a good spot.”
Bemidji 14, Monticello 7
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BHS 0 7 7 0 – 14
MHS 7 0 0 0 – 7
First quarter – MHS TD, Holthaus 2-yard run (PAT), 7-0 MHS
Second quarter – BHS TD, Frazer 2-yard run (Briggs PAT), 7-7
Third quarter – BHS TD, Frazer 1-yard run (Briggs PAT), 14-7 BHS
Fourth quarter – No scoring.
By Alex Faber
Alex Faber is a sports reporter for the Bemidji Pioneer. A Michigan transplant, he graduated from Michigan State University in 2024 with a degree in journalism and minors in history and environmental studies.
