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Current sportswriter for the Brainerd Dispatch in Brainerd, Minn. writing game stories, features, season previews and athletes of the week while primarily covering the Brainerd Warriors football beat.
Brainerd Football
In an email sent to Warrior football parents, Brainerd head coach Jason Freed stated they found out about the COVID-19 positive test Thursday and he met with the team later that afternoon via Google Meet video conferencing. Freed said over the phone that the player who tested positive started showing symptoms last Friday after the Warriors' 48-0 loss to Moorhead.
On the opening kickoff, Warriors returner Caden Schoeppner fumbled and Apollo recovered at Brainerd's 28-yard line. Four plays later, on a fourth and eight, Apollo struck a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jakob Corrow to Mach Rout and it was 8-0 less than two minutes in.
The Moorhead Spuds are the reigning Section 8-5A champs and are the No. 3 ranked team in Class 5A, according to The Associated Press. Warriors head coach Jason Freed's message to his team this week stays the same. Get better each day. "I think we've had a good week of practice," he said.
Starting sophomore quarterback Nate Staehling and starting senior running back and safety Ben Staehling both are out with injuries for the 2 p.m. game Saturday, Oct. 26. Nate Staehling rolled his ankle in the second quarter of the opening-round game against Sartell and was carted off the field at halftime.
Friday Night Lights will finally return for the Brainerd Warriors and their fans. A day after the Minnesota State High School League approved a fall schedule for football, the Warriors had to take a two-week hiatus from activities due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
Athletes of the Week
The Verndale junior tallied a 20-point, 20-rebound game against Browerville followed by a 21-point, 13-rebound game against Bertha-Hewitt in two Pirate wins. "He did a very good job of being active on the glass," Verndale head coach Greg Johnson said. "He didn't give up. He worked hard to corral those."
The Pequot Lakes freshman won the cross-country triangular at Perham in 19:00.7 last week and followed it with a win at the Mid-State Conference Championship in 18:58.3. "It's her mentality," Pequot Lakes cross-country head coach Jeff Brever said. "She goes out and tries to win every race.
Others
Cole Smith is on the Nashville Predators' taxi squad joining Josh Archibald of the Edmonton Oilers as the two former Warriors athletes on NHL rosters. Smith made his NHL debut Thursday, Jan. 14, in the Predators' 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He tallied 5:57 of ice time with one shot on goal.
Coming off a rookie season in which he pitched four games in the 2019 Major League Baseball Playoffs for the Tampa Bay Rays, Brainerd Warriors graduate Nick Anderson will have to wait to get his second season in the big leagues started.
The Warriors used a 48-9 shot advantage to beat the Bemidji Lumberjacks 5-1 at the Essentia Health Sports Center. "Coming out of our last game, our message in practice all week was that we needed to compete," Warriors head coach Jack Freeman said.
Nick Anderson keeps racking up awards. The Tampa Bay Rays right-hander and Brainerd Warriors graduate finished off his second season in the majors, which ended in him pitching in the World Series. Anderson posted a 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 innings in the 19 games he played in 2020.
PILLAGER--Even with a sore back Christian Laettner sprung into action eager to get back to teach the second wave of campers Monday, June 24 at Pillager High School. Laettner returned to the area for his youth basketball camp which started Monday,...