Braham and RC win Homecoming contests; C-I and North Branch lose

It was a mixed bag of results for the County News Review’s four area high school football teams on Friday, Oct. 4.

Both Braham and Rush City posted wins on Homecoming, while Cambridge-Isanti’s Homecoming was a little less of a celebration after a loss. And North Branch, the only local team on the road, absorbed a heartbreaking setback.

Here is a look at how the County News Review football teams performed on Friday.

North Branch suffers fourth-quarter loss at Grand Rapids

Host Grand Rapids scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to stun visiting North Branch 29-28.

The Vikings took an early lead when senior Tyler Minke scored on a 35-yard run and senior London Olson found the end zone from 3 yards out in the opening quarter, but Grand Rapids did get a touchdown late in the period.

North Branch got that touchdown back when Minke threw a 33-yard TD pass to senior quarterback Jason Robillard in the second quarter to make the score 21-7 at the break.

Grand Rapids scored first in the third quarter, but the Vikings responded with a 6-yard scoring strike from Robillard to senior Nathaniel Edwards-Gaona.

But the Thunderhawks scored two touchdowns in the final period to force a tie, then used a two-point conversion run after the final TD to claim the one-point victory.

The loss drops North Branch to 4-2 on the season and 3-1 in the Northeast – Red Division.

Big second half carries Rush City to home win over Mesabi East

The Rush City football team scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from Mesabi East 36-14 on Homecoming.

The Tigers netted the only points of the opening quarter when senior Logan Kirby scored on an 8-yard run. Mesabi East scored two TDs in the second quarter, sandwiched around a 73-yard scoring run by Rush City’ senior Jamison Wood, to make the score 14-14 at halftime.

Rush City took the lead for good in the third quarter on a 52-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Matthew Kempf to junior Lukas Diedrich.

The Tigers added two touchdowns in the final period when sophomore Thomas Holmes scored on runs of 23 and 15 yards.

With the victory Rush City improved to 6-0 on the season and is 5-0 in the Northeast Blue Division.

Braham uses 39-point first-quarter explosion to blitz South Ridge

The Braham football team scored 39 points in the opening period of a 52-0 victory over South Ridge on Homecoming.

Freshman David Londgren got the Bombers on the board with a 34-yard TD run on the team’s first offensive play from scrimmage, and sophomore Tyler Eklund scored on a 62-yard run on the second play.

Sophomore quarterback Garett Lidke followed with a 61-yard scoring strike to Eklund, and junior Tucker Gould followed by intercepting a South Ridge pass and returning it 37 yards for another score.

Then junior Dulton Bengtson capped the Braham scoring in the opening quarter with a 22-yard touchdown gallop with 4:54 still to play in the first quarter.

The Bombers’ lone score in the second period came on a 15-yard touchdown run by Londgren, and Londgren capped the scoring with a 25-yard scoring run early in the third quarter.

With the win, Braham improved to 3-3 overall and is 3-2 in the Northeast Silver Division.

Cambridge-Isanti falls to Sauk Rapids-Rice on Homecoming

The Cambridge-Isanti football team saw visiting Sauk Rapids-Rice score 28 points in both the first and third quarters to claim a 66-22 victory.

The Storm scored twice in the game's first two minutes, then added another touchdown before the Bluejackets got on the board with a 3-yard touchdown run at the 4:05 mark of the opening quarter.

Sauk Rapids-Rice then scored again late in the first quarter, then added a TD midway through the second to lead 35-8 at halftime.

Cambridge-Isanti scored twice in the third quarter thanks to a 65-yard touchdown run and a 30-yard interception return for a score, but the Storm answered with three TDs in the final seven minutes of the third period, then added a touchdown late in the final quarter.

With the loss, the Bluejackets fell to 0-6 overall and are 0-3 in the Northstar – West-Gold Division.