Wabasso 18, MACCRAY 8

WABASSO — In an effort to turn the program around after tallying one win over the last three seasons, the Wabasso Rabbits started their year in the win column with an 18-8 victory over MACCRAY Thursday night at home. The victory ended a 21-game losing streak for the Rabbits.

After a hiatus, longtime Wabasso athletics director and former football coach Joe Kemp returns to the sidelines to lead the Rabbits.

MACCRAY defeated Wabasso 47-7 when they played last season behind a 27-point second quarter, however, that was not the way of the game this time. 

Wabasso scored their first touchdown of the night in the first quarter with a 14-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jack Burns to junior Zach Skoblik. The next two quarters were scoreless for both teams. 

The final quarter of the game got close, as Burns threw another touchdown to Skoblik, but MACCRAY quickly responded with a 26-yard rush touchdown of their own. They brought in two more points on a safety play for a 12-8 score Rabbits up. 

Senior wide receiver Kaysen Harms was able to solidify the win with a 67-yard rush to the end zone. He had a team-high 92 rushing yards on the night. 

The Rabbits had a total 217 yards rushing and 16 first downs, compared to MACCRAY’s 123 yards and 11 first downs. 

Wabasso will next travel to Tyler for a matchup against the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights on Friday at 7 p.m. The Knights defeated the Rabbits 20-7 when they last met on Sept. 8, 2023.

TMB 14

DAWSON — Powered by a 21-point second quarter, Dawson-Boyd defeated Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 48-14 to open up the season. 

The Blackjacks were seeking revenge, as TMB beat Dawson-Boyd 50-41 in a shootout in last year’s season-opener. 

TMB’s Trevor Smith threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns in the matchup last year and was again the leading passer tonight. He threw 20 complete passes out of 32 attempts for 188 yards, one touchdown and ran for a team-high 20 yards to tally their second of the night.  

Dawson-Boyd started the night with a 13-point first quarter. Gunner Liebl threw 14 complete passes on 19 attempts for a team-high 183 yards and two touchdowns. He also was the second-leading receiver, gaining 66 yards and running into the endzone twice more, behind Nathan Hansen who ran for 114 yards and one touchdown. 

The Blackjacks were aggressive on defense to limit the Panther’s chance to cut the deficit. Aedyn Dahl had a team-high seven tackles, and three assists. Freshman Christian Gasca had two tackles for TMB. 

The Panthers were able to get on the board with a touchdown in the third quarter with a one-yard run-in from Smith, and another three-yard pass play in the fourth quarter. However it was not enough to catch up to Dawson-Boyd, who ultimately decided the game with their second-quarter run. 

The Blackjacks had a total of 435 yards gained between passing and rushing, compared to TMB’s 251 on the night. 

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton will host Sleepy Eye United on Friday for its home opener while Dawson-Boyd will remain on its home turf to host Lac qui Parle Valley. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.

WWG 42, BLHS 14

WESTBROOK — In their first game back since a 1-8 2022 season campaign, due to not having a varsity team last year because of short numbers, Westbrook-Walnut-Grove came out in dominant fashion for a 42-14 victory over Buffalo Lake-Hector Stewart to begin their year. 

WWG jumped to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and never let up. With another 20 points in the second, and a final touchdown in the third, quarterback Kevin Curry threw 12 complete passes on 22 attempts for 336 yards and four touchdown passes. 

Neil Kuehl was the Chargers leading rusher, gaining 178 total yards and completing one touchdown. 

Kyle Curry, Kuehl, and Drew Swanson led the receivers for the team, with Kyle running 71 yards and completing four catches, Swansom with 168 yards, two touchdowns and six catches, and Kuehl with 94 yards, five catches and two touchdowns. 

Defensive leaders were Kuehl and Adrian Yang with eight tackles respectively, and Kevin with seven. 

The last time the two teams met in 2021, WWG defeated BLHS 44-18. 

The Chargers will next travel to Leroy-Ostrander High School on Saturday, Sept. 7 for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

AROUND THE AREA

Sleepy Eye 28, YME 0

SLEEPY EYE — The Sleepy Eye football team spoiled Yellow Medicine East’s season opener for the second year in a row on Thursday. After the Indians defeated the Sting 34-14 last season, they defeated them again 28-0 this time. Yellow Medicine East (0-1) will face a tall task on Friday night when they host Minneota in Granite Falls at 7 p.m. The Vikings head into the matchup as the two-time reigning state champions while also winning each of the last four Section 5A championships. The Vikings defeated Yellow Medicine East 63-19 in the teams’ last matchup in 2023.

MCC 31, LQPV 13

MADISON — This year’s season-opening matchup between Murray County Central and Lac qui Parle Valley was much less suspensful than last season’s. After Teague Meyer’s 250 rushing yards helped the Rebels hold off the Eagles’ 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points for a 35-34 win last year, the Rebels coasted to a 41-13 win this season.

Murray County Central (1-0) will welcome Springfield into Slayton on Friday night for its home opener at 7 p.m. The reigning Class A state runners-up defeated the Rebels 27-14 last season behind a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.

RCW 40, RRC 6

LAMBERTON — The Red Rock Central football team couldn’t carry its momentum against Renville County West from last season into 2024.

The Falcons defeated the Jaguars twice last season, winning 13-6 in the season opener in Danube and 20-6 in the Section 2 9-player tournament semifinals. Yet, the Jaguars coasted to a 40-6 win to start the 2024 season.

Red Rock Central now will head out on the road for a Friday night matchup against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart at Hector Football Field on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.