NOXON – The Red Devils hit the gridiron against Flint Creek on Friday, Sept. 12, coming out with one touch down and an ultimate loss. The final score was 8-56.

According to Head Coach Josh Patterson, the start of the game was sluggish.

“We came out slow and did not start well,” Coach Patterson said. “I think we were a bit intimidated by the number of boys they had on their team, which looked to be enough to play in class B.”

The team still has work to do when it comes to tackling and blocking, but the coach said the boys seemed to improve as the game continued and as the boys were able to gain more experience.

“It’s a slow process and we must all exercise a great deal of patience,” Coach Patterson said. “We did get better as the game went on.”

Red Devil Luke Crowe put up a strong front and was the team’s top rusher again with 72 yards total and a two-point conversion run. Jacob Mitchell was also credited with a strong performance, scoring the team’s only touchdown on a short run. On the defensive side, Quincy Grupenhoff proved to be unstoppable as he recorded two sacks and Noxon’s leading tackler, Gary Wadman, forced a fumble, bringing his total to two forced fumbles on the year, Coach Patterson said.

The points scored by Mitchell were put on the board late in the game, after Flint Creek already held a substantial lead. The coach was happy to see the boys applying what they are learning in practice to a real game situation.

“We scored our first points of the year on a 10 play drive late in the game,” Coach Patterson said. “I finally began to see them apply, on a more consistent basis, the fundamentals we have been working on in practice.

Up next Noxon will face Arlee for their homecoming game on Friday, Sept. 19.

“As I told the boys after the game, it’s not going to get any easier,” Coach Patterson said. “Arlee is shaping up to be one of the top teams in the conference this year.”