BELMONT – While Belmont was celebrating its 102nd annual Community Fair, the Braves’ football team was hoping to treat their fans to their first victory of the season when they hosts fellow winless Six Rivers Conference foe Benton/Scales Mound in their Fair Game at BHS on Friday, Sept. 16.
    Unfortunately, the Zephyrs were ready to do a little celebrating of their own after rushing for three second-half touchdowns to run down the Braves, 27-12, for their first win of the season.
    “It was a great team effort on Friday night that came up just a little bit short. The guys fought hard for four quarters and never gave up,” said Belmont co-head coach Matt McKinley.
    Senior Aaron Coffey and junior Brendan Carlborg each rushed for two touchdowns to carry the Zephyrs (1-4 overall, 1-3 SRC) over the Braves (0-5, 0-5) and give first-year head coach Todd Bastian his first varsity coaching victory.
    Belmont is still looking for their first victory after suffering their 11th consecutive loss.
    Coffey’s 7-yard TD run with 7:45 remaining in the first half have the Zephyrs a 6-0 lead, and the BSM defense made sure that lead stood up until the intermission.
    Belmont tied the game early in the third quarter on a 1-yard TD blast by junior running back Jake Wedig, but Carlborg answered back with a 19-yard scoring run of his own with just over three minutes remaining in the stanza to put the Zephyrs back on top to stay.
    “We were very happy with the way we started out the second half. We came out fired up from halftime and took advantage of a Benton turnover to tie the game up at six all. The team definitely left everything on the field Friday night and gave great effort all game long,” McKinley added.
    Carlborg added a 1-yard TD plunge in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter to extend the guests’ lead, and Coffey put the outcome out of reach with a 23-yard scoring scamper with 3:21 to play to make it 27-6.
    The Braves cut the deficit to 27-12 on a 15-yard Connor Wiegel TD reception with 1:10 left, but that was as close as they would get as the Zephyrs notched the win.
    Belmont outgained the Zephyrs on the night, 212 to 194, with 113 passing yards and 99 rushing yards.
    Colin Austin went 11-for-14 through the air for 107 yards and a touchdown. Jake Amenda hauled in three catches for a team-high 45 yards. Isaac Wiegel added five catches for 31 yards, and C. Wiegel had two catches for 21 yards and a school while also leading the rushing attack with 72 yards on 16 carries.
    Wedig ran 12 times for 27 yards and a TD and had two catches for 16 yards.
    The Zephyrs gained 163 of their 194 total yards on the ground. Carlborg led the way with 63 yards on 16 carries with two scores, while Coffey added 48 yards and two scores on nine totes.
    Defensively for the Braves, Amenda tallied 11 tackles with two stops for a loss. Simon Rossard chipped in with 10 tackles, while Cole Douglas recorded six tackles and Dylan Runde registered five stops with a sack.
     Belmont takes a break from league play this week as they host New Lisbon (4-1) in a non-conference contest at BHS on Friday, Sept. 23. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
Benton-SM…. 0  6  7  14 –   27
Belmont…….. 0  6  0    6 –   12
BSM– Aaron Coffey, 7 run (kick failed)
Bel – Jake Wedig, 1 run (kick failed)
BSM– Brendan Carlborg, 19 run (Aldo Maziu kick)
BSM– B. Carlborg, 1 run (Maziu kick)
BSM– Coffey, 23 run (Maziu kick)
Bel – Connor Wiegel, 15 pass from Colin Austin (kick failed)
 
Team Stats: First Downs– BSM 10; BEL 13. Rushing– BSM 38-163; BEL 37-99. Passing– BSM 1-6-0, 31; BEL 12-18-0, 113. Fumbles-Lost– BSM 3-2; BEL 1-1. Penalties– BSM 2-10; BEL 6-45.
 
Belmont Leaders: Rushing (Att-Yds-Td)– Connor Wiegel, 16-72-0. Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Td-Yds)– Colin Austin, 11-14-0-1, 107. Receiving (Cat-Yds-Td)– Jake Amenda, 3-45-0.