PEQUOT LAKES — Dan Mudgett and the Pequot Lakes Patriots could have overlooked their Week Two opponent.
With a big Section 7-3A game against Two Harbors looming, Pequot could have gone through the motions Friday, Sept. 6.
That’s not what happened.
Pequot took its opening drive 72 yards on six plays and concluded with a 6-yard John Paul Elsenpeter touchdown run. It never relented and beat down the Pine City Dragons 60-0.
“We didn’t want to play down and we didn’t have the greatest week,” Pequot Lakes head coach Bill Magnuson said. “We really challenged them in pregame about not having any regrets and don’t ever look back and always give your best and that’s what a lot of them did tonight.”
The Patriots scored on almost every offensive possession and two of Pine City’s.
1/47: Pequot Lakes’ John Paul Elsenpeter scoops up a fumble before running it for a touchdown against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
2/47: Pequot Lakes’ John Paul Elsenpeter runs a fumble back for a touchdown against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
3/47: Pequot Lakes’ John Paul Elsenpeter scoops up a fumble before running it for a touchdown against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
4/47: Pequot Lakes’ Landen Brill intercepts the ball against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
5/47: Pequot Lakes’ John Paul Elsenpeter, left, and Aaron Clark celebrate a touchdown by Clark against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
6/47: Pequot Lakes’ Tade Magnuson runs the ball against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
7/47: Pequot Lakes’ Micah Loukota intercepts the ball against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
8/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
9/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
10/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
11/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
12/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
13/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
14/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
15/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
16/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
17/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
18/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
19/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
20/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
21/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
22/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
23/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
24/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
25/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
26/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
27/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
28/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
29/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
30/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
31/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
32/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
33/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
34/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
35/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
36/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
37/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
38/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
39/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
40/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
41/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
42/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
43/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
44/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
45/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
46/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
47/47: Pequot Lakes Football vs Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes. Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Elsenpeter corralled a Pine City fumble on their first possession and scored from 20 yards out.
Landen Brill, who recovered a fumble minutes earlier, intercepted a pass and returned it 7 yards for a TD.
Pequot Lakes’ Landen Brill intercepts the ball against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
On the next play, Micah Loukota picked off a Pine City pass. On the next play, Mike Oseland found Aaron Clark for a 47-yard touchdown pass.
“It’s just fantastic,” Mudgett said about seeing the ball go in the end zone. “When you see a touchdown happen. It’s the best feeling in the world. The confidence level is high for the rest of the game. We were so high when we saw them going in, especially early like that.”
Pequot’s Connor Welle then recovered a fumble and three plays later Oseland hit Clark again for a 13-yard score.
Pequot Lakes’ Micah Loukota intercepts the ball against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
“It’s great to create turnovers, and your defense scores twice, but then you also get short fields and you execute,” Magnuson said. “You could see we focused on the pass game early. We wanted to get that going because it was a little raw last week. I thought he did a nice job. That was the focus to get that pass game going.”
Oseland finished 8-of-9 passing for 138 yards and the two scores in just one half of play. Clark hauled in four passes for 93 yards and Bryar Nordby caught four passes for 47 yards.
“It was very important to get the passing going,” Mudgett said. “Michael, first time starting a varsity game last week, he’s got it down now. We put good protection up for him. Now it’s just going to be up from here.”
Kamrin Hulke added a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and Tade Magnuson scored from 10 yards out for a Pequot 47-0 halftime lead.
The Patriots’ defense, aside from its five turnovers, held Pine City to -11 yards of offense in the first half.
Pequot Lakes’ Tade Magnuson runs the ball against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
“When you put up stats like that the confidence for the entire week is high,” Mudget said. “Going into that next game we’re going to be up.”
The second half was a junior varsity battle. Because of running time and offensive efficiency, the Patriots ran just 10 offensive plays on two possessions. They scored on both. In the third quarter, Jobey Tvedt broke numerous tackles to score from 8 yards. In the fourth quarter, Griffen Hannah broke off the left side and sprinted 72 yards for the final score. Hannah finished with 100 yards on just five carries.
“We could have been balanced, but we wanted to focus on that pass game,” Magnuson said. “We ran the ball really well last week. We kept focusing on passing, but then we had to settle in and run the run game late.”
Pequot Lakes’ John Paul Elsenpeter runs a fumble back for a touchdown against Pine City on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at Pequot Lakes.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Pequot finished with 377 yards of offense on just 33 plays and held Pine City to 59 total yards on 44 plays.
“It was important because we got a hard win last Thursday,” Mudgett said about not having a let-down performance. “It was a good win. We got a lot of reps in and we got the film. We put a lot of new stuff in for this game and so now we just know what to fix. It’s going to be a good game next week.”
Pequot Lakes 33 14 7 6 — 60
PL-John Paul Elsenpeter 6 run (Jerome Martin kick) 9:12
