Holdingford's defense yet to allow a touchdown as Huskers rout Royalton in Week 2

HOLDINGFORD — If the Huskers don't score on the ground, they'll score in the air.

With Holdingford football's 46-6 win over Royalton on Friday, the team is averaging 44 points per game through two weeks. They even had three touchdowns called back against the Royals because of penalties.

"This is probably our deepest team athletic-wise that we've had in a long time," coach Luke Mitchell said. "If one kid's not going, we can give the ball to another kid."

In the home opener junior quarterback Jaxon Bartkowicz's first two completions were for 50+ yard touchdowns on the same play over the middle to senior Brandon Hall.

"Safety drove on our A — Z was wide open," Hall said. "Good balls from the quarterback."

Despite the identical touchdown plays fewer than five minutes apart, Holdingford's offense is no one-trick pony. The Huskers (2-0) are incredibly athletic at several positions. Bartkowicz has run the show for two games now, taking over for Drew Lange, who led the team to a 7-4 record and the Section 5-2A semifinal in 2023.

The Huskers are still burning over the 44-14 loss to eventual state champion Eden Valley-Watkins and they're determined to make a run at the Eagles and this year's state tournament.

Against Royalton (0-2), Bartkowicz had another TD pass to Masyn Patrick in the second quarter and the junior quarterback ran several times for quality gains and first downs. Patrick had two rushing scores earlier in the game and he had two two-point conversions. After leading at the half 32-6, Holdingford's last two TDs were scored on runs by juniors Mason Lichy and Wyatt Pilarski.

Despite the success, Bartkowicz said the Huskers have a lot to continue to work on.

"It was a little bit of everything," he said. "We had a lot of missed blocks, a lot of missed reads by me."

Holdingford could have had more possessions and potentially scored more points if the team didn't receive six penalties compared to Royalton's four. The three scores negated by flags were an opening punt return from junior Nathan Streit for an illegal block, a second-quarter pass to Luke Bieniek for an illegal man downfield and a third-quarter pick six by junior Andrew Novitzki because of another illegal block.

A lot of the Huskers' athletes play on both sides of the ball and Royalton coach Jamie Morford gave credit to their "big and agile" line saying they were "all over the place."

"The defense is playing amazing, lights out," Bieniek said. "Number one defense in the state, no touchdowns."

The JV squad gave up one score to the Mainstreeters (0-2) in Week 1 and on Friday the Husker special teams gave up a kick-return touchdown in the second quarter. Bartkowicz said the Huskers' edge pressure and outside run contain is especially strong. PIlarski and Streit can be counted on for tackles from the outside, as can senior Beau Johnson, who had an interception against Sauk Centre. Caleb Krattenmaker and Brody Gusafson are also disrupters on the line.

Royalton's Ethan Albright scored that touchdown return, breaking up the left side of the field for a 50+ yard score. He had a few strong runs for the Royals, as did quick senior Braedon Hansen.

"Offensively we're just struggling," coach Jamie Morford said. "Mentally, (starting quarterback Kirk Yourczek's injury) kind of got to us last week. We're still kind of reeling and figuring out our identity. Our runners our strong, we're just not blocking very well, plain and simple."

Senior Brady Yourczek has taken over quarterbacking from junior cousin Kirk Yourczek. He is pretty quick and eluded Holdingford's defense for a some gains on his feet and a few completions through the air.

"Defensively we did have really good moments but we out-thought ourselves," Morford said. "On the big broken plays we out-thought ourselves, put ourselves in bad situations and a good quarterback takes advantage of those things."

Before the half the Royals had a big goal line stand, breaking up a pass and containing a few outside runs within their ten yard line. They put up a good fight last week too, keeping close with a Rockford team that in 2023 blew the Royals out and only lost two games. The Royals lost 19-6.

Next week Royalton hosts Maple Lake (0-2). Holdingford isn't too far from home. The Huskers play St. Cloud Cathedral (1-1) at St. John's University.

Other local scores: St. Cloud area high school football Week 2 coverage, locations, live scores

All of our coverage: St. Cloud Times high school football 2024: the complete guide for total coverage

Preseason players to watch: The 60 football players to know entering the 2024 season in central Minnesota

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Holdingford's defense yet to allow a touchdown as Huskers rout Royalton in Week 2