After 0-3 start, Lumberjacks look to homecoming for 1st victory of the season
· Yahoo Sports
Sep. 22—On Friday's game against Buffalo, Josh Arel made a game-changing play on the defensive side of the ball in the second quarter, intercepting quarterback Reiker Wignes.
Just a few plays later, the junior made another game-changing play on the offensive side of the ball.
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Bemidji High School football offensive coordinator Mitch Hendricks called for a left-side pitch to Arel. Up to that point, the running game had been struggling to find openings in the Bison defense.
"I caught the ball, and I saw the one guy in front of me and I was like, 'I think I can make a miss,'" Arel said. "I just planted my foot, (he) flew right by and then it was just off to the races."
The crowd slowly came to a roar as Arel reached the 50-yard line. If he received just a few more blocks downfield, he'd reach the end zone to give Bemidji the lead.
That's where offensive linemen like Nehemiah Schwinghammer come in.
Just before a Bison defender could get near Arel, Schwinghammer made a pancake block that paved the way for Arel to reach the end zone.
"You're just looking for one guy in the wrong color, and you're trying to take him out, so that's my mentality," Schwinghammer said. "Every time I block someone, I'm trying to put them on the ground."
"He's got his heart and soul into this thing," head coach Kyle McMartin said about Schwinghammer, "and I think it shows in plays like that."
It was an explosive play that the Lumberjacks have been searching for offensively all season. While it got glimpses of it on Friday, the Bison still walked away with a 15-13 victory to drop BHS to 0-3.
Its homecoming game this Friday against Sauk Rapids-Rice has been circled on Bemidji's calendar for weeks, but the slow start to the season has made the game that much more important.
With tough opponents like Brianerd (3-0), Alexandria (2-1) and Monticello (3-0) left on the schedule, getting their first win against SRR would be huge for the Jacks' season.
"If we get this win, it puts us back on the map and lets people know that we're not an 0-3 caliber team," Schwinghammer said. "We just had some mistakes, and we've corrected them. We're getting better every week. And that 0-3 start? It does not define us as a team."
While Bemidji's defense hasn't been perfect, it certainly hasn't been a problem, especially in its past two games. It gave up less than 20 points to both Grand Rapids and Buffalo, giving the Jacks a good chance at winning both games.
"Defense has been incredible," Schwinghammer said. "Against Grand Rapids, we played perfect 45 minutes of football, we just had a few slip-ups at the end. Defensive line played great, linebackers have been great. Safeties — they've had issues, but most of the time, they're great. We just need to work on finishing plays."
With homecoming comes distractions, but the Lumberjacks are focused on blocking those out to secure their first victory.
"We talked about the idea that we can't have distractions bring us away from our goals of winning the game," head coach Kyle McMartin said. "In homecoming, there's even more things that happen all week long. We've talked about there's going to be a lot of things that we've got to do. We've got parades, we've got stuff at the school, we've got dances, all of those things.
"At the end of the day, we've got to play football. We've got to make sure that our head is where it needs to be in order to create the space to get a win."
The game against Buffalo was a crazy one for Arel, who was seemingly all over the field. While he spends time in the secondary on defense, he doubles as a wide receiver and the backup quarterback on offense.
After absorbing multiple hard hits, starter Owen Vandermeer went down with an injury late in Friday's game. Arel just didn't expect it, since Vandermeer had just gone untouched for a 65-yard score before he exited the game.
"All of a sudden, coach Hendricks came over and he was like, 'Hey, you need to be ready because you're probably going in,'" Arel said. "And I was like, 'What?' I was not expecting that at all — he didn't even get hit on the last play. So I started taking some snaps on the sideline."
Arel had come in relief of Vandermeer in 2025, getting one start. That experience helped him remain calm under center.
"With this year playing varsity more, my nerves weren't as high," he said. "Last year, every game was like 'Oh my gosh!' And this year, just playing a little more, the maturity is coming and it's just not as bad."