Blue Earth Area wide receiver Caden Juba (13) looks for some running room after catching a pass from Buccaneers’ quarterback, Jacob Grandgenett.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers football team traveled to Luverne on Friday, Sept. 27 to take on the undefeated Class AAA Luverne Cardinals.

The Cardinals built a 28-7 lead by the end of the first half on their way to a 48-14 victory over the Bucs.

Luverne drew first blood after BEA failed to get a punt off which gave the Cardinals excellent field position at the Bucs’ 10-yard line.

It only took the home team one play to run the ball in for a touchdown to take the early lead. The extra-point kick was good and Luverne led 7-0.

Following the ensuing kickoff, the Bucs began their next drive on their own 35-yard line. After three runs by halfback Brayden Rhey, BEA faced a fourth down needing one yard for a first down. BEA quarterback Jacob Grandgenett got the one yard and more when he raced into the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown run. Grandgenett’s kick made it through the uprights to tie the score at 7-7.

Unfortunately, that was all the points the Bucs could manage in the first half while the Cardinals added 14 more points in the first quarter and seven more in the second quarter to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

Luverne added 20 more points in the second half while BEA managed to tally another touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The team statistics showed the Cardinals with 18 first downs to 12 for the Bucs. Luverne rushed for 254 yards and passed for 170 yards for a total of 424 yards.

BEA had 224 yards of total offense with 123 rushing yards and 101 passing yards.

Grandgenett was 11-for-23 passing for 101 yards. Gage Barker caught six passes for 53 yards and Caden Juba had three receptions for 18 yards to lead the Buccaneer receivers.

The leading rusher for BEA was Grandgenett with 99 yards on nine attempts. Rhey finished with 32 yards on 15 attempts and Timmy Nagel had five rushes for 20 yards.

BEA played host to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Friday, Oct. 4, for homecoming.

Look for the results of that game in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.