The Redhawk defense struggled to contain Luke DeMeulenaere (18) and the Belle Plaine run game on a wet and cold night of football last Friday. The Plainsmen out rushed the Redhawks 300-to-101 in the loss. -- Darvin Graham/North Tama Telegraph

BELLE PLAINE — North Tama headed south last week for what ended up being a battle in the mud.

A cold and wet spell swept through the region last week saturating Belle Plaine’s grass football field with .75″ of precipitation shortly before and during Friday’s game.

Both teams struggled at times to control the ball but it would be Belle Plaine who would dominate the line of scrimmage, out-rushing the Redhawks by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

The Plainsmen attacked early and managed to score touchdowns in the first and second quarters to take a 20-0 lead into halftime.

The Redhawks were at times able to capture first downs but the rain made it especially difficult to break big plays and the Belle Plaine defense did what they needed to do to keep North Tama from stringing enough plays together to make successful drives.

Quarterback Gabe Kopriva (center) gets a block from Noah Weber (right) as he scrambles from pressure during North Tama’s loss to Belle Plaine. -- Darvin Graham/North Tama Telegraph

Nearly all of the Plainsmen’s production came from two brothers, quarterback Ben DeMeulenaere and running back Luke DeMeulenaere.

Ben completed 6-of-8 passes with no interceptions while rushing for 39 yards and one touchdown. Luke meanwhile was the workhorse, carrying the ball 33 times for 205 yards and three touchdowns.

Statistically the Redhawks had little to hang their hat on Friday.

Quarterback Gabe Kopriva was under 50% in his passing attempts and finished the night with 33 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.

Noah Weber was again the lead runner for the Redhawks, but was held in check with only 29 yards rushing on 12 carries.

North Tama’s touchdown came in the fourth quarter courtesy of Ryan Hosek who recovered a fumble and returned it 41 yards for the score.

The teams exited the rain soaked field with a final score of 26-6 in favor of Belle Plaine.

North Tama will look to rebound against North Mahaska this week on the road. The Warhawks are 1-2 with a 48-12 win against Colfax-Mingo in Week 2 and a pair of blowout losses to Grundy Center and East Marshall.

Week 3 Stats

PASSING: Kopriva, 4/14, 33yd, 1INT

RUSHING: Weber, 12/29yd; Kopriva, 9/36yd; McKinley, 4/24yd; Siemans, 1/7yd; A. Bradley, 1/5yd

REC: Weber, 2/17yd; McKinley, 1/11yd; McKiernan, 1/5yd

TACKLES: 16.5-Rausch; 8-D. Hosek; 5.5-Siemans; 4-Hill, McKinley; 3.5-Weber; 3-A. Bradley, Payne; 2-R. Hosek, Hulme, McKiernan, Greiner; 1-J. Unker, Staker, A. Unker, Monat, Kopriva; 0.5-Boldt

FUMBLE REC: 1-R. Hosek, 41yd, 1TD

District 7 Standings

Grundy Center – 3-0, 1-0

Belle Plaine – 2-1, 1-1

BCLUW – 1-2, 1-0

Lynnville-Sully – 1-2, 0-1

North Mahaska – 1-2, 0-1

North Tama – 0-3, 0-1

Week 3 Scores

Grundy Center 42, N. Mahaska 0

Belle Plaine 26, North Tama 6

BCLUW 27, Lynnville-Sully 0