TYLER — On a beautiful fall night for football, the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights entertained the Wabasso Rabbits.  Both teams are looking to rebuild after a couple of down seasons. Wabasso ended a 21-game losing streak in its season opener after Joe Kemp returned to the head coaching position after a three-year hiatus.The Rabbits were hoping to sustain that momentum with another victory.  RTR Head Coach Darren Baartman returns several starters from a 2-7 season.  They are looking to improve on both sides of the ball, with some experienced players coming back.  That proved to be the key to a victory for RTR as they played a very physical game and came out on top with a 29-0 victory.

“They were more physical than we were tonight,” Kemp said. “They beat us up front, and we are a young team that made some mistakes.  We will learn from it, but RTR played well tonight and put us on our heels.  It’s a building process, and we are going to continue to go forward and improve for the next game.”

Wabasso marched down to the RTR 36-yard line on the opening drive but an interception from Juhl Drake at the 20-yard line stopped the Rabbits’ drive.

After the Rabbits forced an RTR punt, Sean Griesse intercepted a Jack Burns pass and returned it 15 yards and the Knights were in Wabasso territory, but Joshua Timm recovered an RTR fumble to stop the scoring threat. 

With the ball on the 50-yard line, Wabasso had two incomplete passes and a short gain to bring up fourth down.  They punted the ball to Sean Griesse, and he returned it 80 yards for the first score of the evening.  The PAT was blocked, but RTR had a 6-0 lead. 

Drew Chandler picked up six yards, and Eli Determan carried for eight more yards to put the on the 43-yard line.  A 10-yard loss and an incompletion brought up fourth down, but Griesse came up with a leaping catch along the sidelines for a 21-yard gain and a first down.  Colton Thomsen burst through the line for an 18-yard gain, and Griesse caught a nine-yard pass to put the ball at the two-yard line.  From there, Thomsen carried it in for the touchdown, and with 6:27 left in the second quarter, RTR had a 14-0 lead after the successful 2-point conversion.

“Without them blocking, I won’t go anywhere,” Thomsen said of his offensive line after the win. “They made the holes for me and I just ran through them. They deserve the credit.”   

Wabasso kicked off to start the second half, and Luke Schreurs took the ball 76 yards for a touchdown.  The 2-point conversion on a pass from Determan to Chandler gave the Knights a 22-0 lead just seconds into the second half. 

The Rabbits returned the kickoff to the 30-yard line, and after three stops, they lined up for a punt.  But Kayson Harms fooled the RTR defense with a fake punt and picked up 15 yards to give the Rabbits a first down at midfield.  Leopold hauled in a 5-yard pass, and Harms ran for nine yards and a first down.  It looked like Wabasso was gaining some momentum, but the RTR defense stepped up and held them on four downs and took over the ball at the 34-yard line. 

Sean Griesse continued his spectacular night by taking in a 41-yard pass play, putting the ball on the 25-yard line.  Thomsen had a 13-yard gain and then ran untouched into the end zone for a touchdown, putting the Knights up 29-0 with 4:52 left in the third quarter.

“We still need to work on our offense and fine-tune it a little,” Griesse said. “Special teams played well, and we need to continue to control the line.  We can’t be too predictable.”  Running back Drew Chandler said, “our running game started a little slow, but we picked it up in the second quarter.  Once we got settled in, everything went well.  We did well on special teams, with some nice blocking.”  

RTR is now 1-1, and will travel to Springfield for a tough match against an experienced Tiger team.  Wabasso is also now 1-1 and will go on the road to take on Sleepy Eye United (1-1) on Friday at 7 p.m..