It just wasn’t the Awesome Blossoms’ night in a 15-14 loss to New Richland H/E/G on the road in their football opener Friday.

BP (0-1 overall) scored 12 points in the first quarter on one-yard touch down run by Jeff Hagstrom and a 13-yard touch down pass from Isaiah Toquam to Gabe Kartes.

But the BP offense would hit a lull the rest of the way.

“We would start moving it and then we would make a mistake here or there that would slow us down,” BP head coach Chad Gimbel said. “Whether it was an illegal procedure or missed blocking assignment, it stalled our drives.”

NRHEG (1-0 overall) took the lead for good in the third quarter when Dan Wagner scored on a five-yard run and the two-point conversion put the Panthers up 15-12.

On an NRHEG possession in the fourth quarter it looked the Blossoms had taken the game over. The Panthers fumbled on their own one-yard line with four minutes left in the game and BP recovered the ball. But the play was ruled called off and replayed due to an inadvertent whistle.

BP did get a safety to pull within 15-14, but they went three-and-out on their ensuing possession and never got another solid chance.

Toquam threw for 191 yards and a score, despite being the Blossom’s No. 3 quarterback. After BP suffered injuries to it’s top two signal callers in a span of three days, Toquam played a half of the ‘B’ squad game on Monday in his first career action at the helm. Friday night was his debut on the varsity level.

“He played his heart out and he played a great game for never having been a quarterback back before,” Gimbel said.

STATS

NRHEG rushing: Dan Wagner, 16-for-83, TD

NRHEG passing: Taylor Bolinger, 5-for-9, 159, TD, INT

NRHEG receiving: Tyler Firme, 3-for-124, TD

BP rushing: Justen Ingvalson, 9-for-59; Aaron Niles, 16-for-56; Gabe Kartes, 3-for-9; Jeff Hagstrom, 2-for-0, TD; Isaiah Toquam, 11-for-(-67)

BP passing: Toquam, 13-for-25, 191, TD

BP receiving: Kartes, 5-for-105, TD; Ingvalson, 3-for-45; Niles, 3-for-16; Cooper Nelson, 2-for-25

SCORING SUMMARY

BP 12 0 0 2 — 14

NRHEG 0 7 8 0 — 15

First quarter

(BP) 9:56 Jeff Hagstrom 2 run (Niles kick failed)

(BP) 0:16 Gabe Kartes 13 pass from Isaiah Toquam (Toquam run failed)

Second quarter

(N) 11:46 Tyler Firme 79 pass from Taylor Bolinger

Third quarter

(N) 11:18 Dan Wagner 5 run (Firme pass from Bolinger)

Fourth quarter

(BP) 4:08 Cooper Nelson safety