Herreid-Selby Area used the big play to record a big win over Britton-Hecla in non-conference football Friday night.

The top-rated Class 9B Wolverines had three touchdown plays of more than 40 yards and also returned a fumble for a score in a 50-0 victory at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

“I told them all week, come out and do what number one teams do, on a big stage, with a beautiful atmosphere, against a good team,” said HSA coach Clayton Randall, “and I think our kids did that in all phases, offense, defense, special teams. We were performing at a high level.”

Nobody performed at a higher level than Brenden Begeman. The senior finished with 291 yards on just 10 carries and had touchdown runs of 14, 53, 94 and 43 yards.

“The line did a great job tonight making some holes for me,” Begeman said, “and I was able to read the blocks, make some good cuts and get some nice hits on offense.”

On several of his runs, the Braves appeared to have Begeman contained before he broke free and sprinted towards the end zone.

“He’s a really good football player. He’s going to be playing on Saturdays somewhere,” said Britton-Hecla coach Jacob Skogstad.

Begeman was consistently able to make the first guy miss and get out in space where he either ran over or around defenders.

“What you’re seeing now is a kid that’s put in a ton of work. He’s got the experience. He understands angles and he’s got vision,” Randall said. “He’s been really good at making the first guy miss the last couple of years and now he’s really good at making that second and third guy miss.”

Begeman has spent hours lifting weights in the off season and the results are evident.

“It’s definitely the weight room and a gift from God just to be able to run through people and around people like that,” Begeman said.

Begeman officially went past the 2,000-yard mark in rushing yards for the season with his performance Friday night. His 94-yard touchdown run is a personal best and school record.

Randall said the offensive line plays a key role in Begeman’s rushing success.

“Our offensive line is giving him a chance to showcase his talents in the defensive backfield. You rarely see him have to make a cut in our backfield, so if our guys win up front, he’s going one-on-one in the second level,” Randall said, “and that’s a hard matchup for anybody to tackle him one-on-one when he’s got a full head of steam going.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the Wolverines were able to keep Britton-Hecla off the scoreboard. Herreid-Selby Area gave up one big play on offense, but not much else on the way to the win.

“The game plan tonight was to be discipline and do what we do,” said HSA senior linebacker Nathan Bradford, who led the team with seven tackles.

Again, like they do on offense, the Wolverines use a team effort on the defensive side of the football.

“I have Brendon to my right and I also have Collin (Tisdall), another really good linebacker to my left,” Bradford said. “We play a zone defense that allows me to play a little freer than most, and allows me to be the ‘Mad Dog’ as coaches like to say.”

While the Braves were unable to reach the end zone, it’s not like they didn’t have some opportunities. They connected on a 61-yard pass play before losing a fumble on the HSA 3-yard line and had several other balls that were dropped that would have led to big gains.

“I told our kids at halftime, it was 44-0 at halftime and it felt like it should have been like 32-14 at that time,” Skogstad said. “We didn’t convert on some stuff, but there’s a lot of positives to take out of it and the good news is we wake up (this morning) and everybody is 0-0.”

The Braves, 4-4, will be headed to the Class 9AA playoffs.

The Wolverines, 8-0, are also gearing up for the post-season. Last year they finished runner-up in Class 9A and this season want to win their final game.

“We know what it takes to get to the championship and I think the guys are going to be really ready for it,” Begeman said. “We know every game could be our last so we have to turn up and get really hyped for every single game, and make sure we come out and ready to go.”

Britton-Hecla (4-4) 0 0 0 – 0

Herreid-Selby Area (8-0) 32 12 6 – 50

First Quarter

HSA – Brenden Begeman 14 run (Begeman run), 9:46.

HSA – Begeman 53 run (Begeman run), 6:56.

HSA – Cole Zabel 19 pass from Chris Hettick (Darion Barker pass from Hettick), 3:49.

HSA – Begeman 94 run (Barker pass from Hettick), 1:13.

Second Quarter

HSA – Begeman 43 run, 8:14.

HSA – Ethan Thompson 20 fumble recovery return, 3:17.

Third Quarter

HSA – Hettick 1 run, 2:01.

OFFENSE: Britton-Hecla rushing 25-81 (BoDell Davidson 12-49, Tucker Mertens 10-21, Bryce Hawkinson 2-10), passing 3-7-0 for 58 (Davidson 3-7-0 for 58), receiving (Dawson Treeby 1-61), first downs 7; Herreid-Selby Area rushing 22-384 (Begeman 10-291, Hettick 6-74), passing 2-9-1 for 42 (Hettick 2-9-1 for 42), receiving (Trevor Gill 1-23, Zabel 1-19), first downs 15.

DEFENSE: Britton-Hecla, Mertens 5 tackles, Daschel Davidson 4 tackles, Hawkinson 3 tackles and 1 INT; Herreid-Selby Area, Nathan Bradford 8 tackles, Begeman 7 tackles.