At last week’s annual Becker Bulldog football banquet, Head Coach Dwight Lundeen reflected on the hugely successful season and welcomed all the players, family and friends to a night of celebration.
The Bulldogs went 7-5 and finished the campaign with a 15-point loss to Cloquet in the first round of the state playoffs. Becker beat Chisago Lakes (56-44), Princeton twice (56-0, 42-12), Big Lake twice (37-20, 37-14), Apollo (21-17) and Delano (36-28).
Their losses came against Rocori (16-14), Hutchinson (31-17), Brainerd (36-8), Willmar (8-6) and Cloquet (36-21).
The Bulldogs will lose 19 players to graduation, including Jacob Drury, Bryce Boser, Austin Hemmelgarn, Brady Sheeley, Kreeden Blomquist, Alex Blomgren, Lucas Dertinger, Brenton Arbuckle, Sidney Boros, Travis Ferris, Jayden Gruba, Cody Johnson, Matt Krenz, Mitchell Enerson, Tyler Henkemeyer, Mason Seeley, Travis Myers, Nick Radunz and Zackeriah Hollen.
Sophomore QB Josh Fobbe completed his season with 98 passes complete on 172 passes attempted for 1,314 yards. He had 17 TD’s, 10 interceptions and finished with a 57% completion percentage.
Boros had 208 rushes for 1,659 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averaged eight yards a carry and had a long TD run of 80 yards. Boros also led the tam in kick returns with 19 for 375 yards and one 83-yard TD. He was the team’s leader in offensive yards, accumulating 2,278 in all 12 games.
Dertinger led all receivers with 47 receptions for 649 yards and 11 TD’s. He averaged 14 yards a catch and had a 60-yard reception for a score earlier in the year. He also led the team in scoring with 13 combined TD’s, three two-pointers, 40 PAT’s and two field goals.
On defense, Gruba led the team in tackles with 100 and had 31 assists. Dertinger had 54 tackles and six interceptions and Nick Mittelstaedt had five tackles and four picks. Radunz finished with 39 tackles and 10 assists and recovered three fumbles.
Awards
Kaj Fritsch had a G.P.A. of 4.0 and was named scholar athlete of the year. The entire Bulldog team had a cumulative 3.05 G.P.A. and received a gold honor award.
Most dedicated went to Henkemeyer and the Monster Man award went to Mikey James. Brady Cobb was named assistant coach of the year and Sandi Ferris was named fan of the year.
Ferris also put together a short film of her photos she took while parading the sidelines.
The district service award went to Mike Walberg for leading Becker youth football for the last 18 years.
Dertinger gave an impassioned speech on what Becker football meant to him over the years.
Dertinger was also part of the First team All-District team consisting of Fobbe, Berning, James, Ferris, Radunz and Boros, who was also named District Running Back of the Year.
All-District Honorable Mention Second Team went to Brandon Gustafson, Travis Myers, Mason Seeley, Fritsch, Brayden Weber, Sam Ricker, Alex Blomgren, Boser, Justin Reichle, Hemmelgarn, Blomquist, CodyJohnson, Bryce Halvorson, Lincoln Carlson and Kevin Andres.
The 2018 captains were named at the banquet and they include Seniors James, Gustafson, Andres and Reichle.
