The Britton Deerfield Patriots improved to 2-0 on the season with a 14-6 win at Southfield Christian Friday night.
The Patriots defense came up big on a night when the offense was sluggish.
“There were numerous big stops and turnovers created that kept us in the game and in the lead,” said coach DJ Lutz.
The Patriots took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter when QB Andrew Prielipp connected with Eli Browning on a four-yard TD. Southfield Christian made it 7-6 on a long touchdown run to open the third quarter. The extra point kick failed.
Lutz said it was a defensive struggle for most of the second half until Jacob Warner scored on an 18-yard run in the fourth quarter. The extra point made it 14-6.
Eli Browning ended a late-game thread with an interception in Britton-Deerfield territory with just over a minute left on the clock.
Prielipp completed 11 of 22 pass attempts for 115 yards and a touchdown. Josh Hoffman and Austin Miller each caught three passes.
Josh Reau paced the defense with eight tackles, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Michael McGuire made six tackles. Brock Prain recorded five stops, including two behind scrimmage. Jordan Osbun made four tackles and recovered a fumble.
After two games, Lutz sees things he likes and things that need work.
“What I’ve liked so far is our desire to win and our intensity on defense,” he said. “Even when things aren’t going our way or a negative play occurs, our kids keep on taking steps forward to fight through the adversity.”
But, Lutz said, the team needs to stop creating so much adversity to fight through.
“What I don’t like is the simple fact that we have too many mental mistakes. We are not good enough to have mental lapses at any point of the game on Friday nights. Most teams in our league will take full advantage of us not being fundamentally sound in the thinking game.”
Still, the team has two wins in two outings.
“Ultimately, that’s your goal after two weeks. Now all we have to do is continue to come to practice with the right attitude and make sure we are getting better each day,” Lutz said.
BD hosts Morenci at Deerfield Friday night. Morenci is 0-2 after getting pounded by Hudson last week.
