BLOOMING PRAIRIE — Blooming Prairie quarterback Luc Zellmer made plenty of good throws in his team’s 38-20 win over No. 8 ranked LeCenter (3-1 overall) Friday night, but it’s the throws he missed that he’ll be focusing on.

Zellmer completed 14 of his 29 passes for 400 yards and five touchdowns, but it was mostly the big plays that kept BP going. The Awesome Blossoms (2-2 overall) connected on six passes of more than 30 yards, but Zellmer struggled on some of the shorter slants over the middle.

“I’ve got to start making more plays,” he said. “I’ve got to get the ball out quicker and hit receivers on their breaks. I’ve got to trust my receivers more and let them make plays.”

Zellmer did step up when it mattered as he hit Gabe Kartes on stride for a swing pass on third and eight that turned into a 74-yard score down the sideline to make it 13-7 and he found Luke Hueman on fourth down with 23 seconds left in the half in the back corner of the end zone for a 25-yard score.

“Luc threw a lot of great passes, but he also missed a couple of guys he normally wouldn’t,” BP head coach Chad Gimbel said. “But overall he played a great game. We’ve got a great quarterback.”

BP never trailed after Hueman’s touchdown thanks, in part, to a little vindication from BP cornerback Michael Thomas, who muffed punt to set up LeCenter’s drive that made it 14-13 Wildcats with 1:18 left in the first half.

On LeCenter’s third possession of the second half, Thomas picked off a pass on third down and ran it 31 yards down to the LeCenter 10-yard line to set up a 10-yard Zellmer touchdown strike to Isaiah Toquam.

“I was down because I made so many bad plays,” Thomas said. “Then I came up with that interception and we were all pumped up.”

The BP defense made a drastic recovery after a rough first half. LeCenter, which had a much bigger front line, fed running back Mario Arroyo, a 5-7, 236-pound bruiser, the ball early and often and he racked up 91 yards in the first half. In the second half, BP held him to 44 yards on 13 carries.

“We were trying to keep the linebackers free to get a shot on that Arroyo. Boy is he a load,” Gimbel said. “We just wanted stalemates (up front) so we could get to the running back and they took up blockers and held their ground. (Our line) is not only undersized, they’re young. They’re growing fast and they play with a lot of pride.”

BP put the game away when Zellmer hit Kartes on a six-yard score on a fourth down out route to make it 31-14 with 10:34 left in the game.

“It’s good to know we beat one of the better teams in the conference but we’ve got four more weeks left and we’ve got to keep battling,” Zellmer said. “A majority of the teams are going to have us on size. We’ve just got to keep getting better and keep having the heart that we have.”

Cooper Nelson sat out the game with an injury for BP, but Dylan Hatch picked up the slack by catching six passes for 152 yards and a score.

STATS

BP passing: Luc Zellmer, 14-for-29, 400, 5 TD

BP receiving: Dylan, 6-for-152, TD; Luke Hueman, 2-for-91 TD; Gabe Kartes, 3-for-84, 2 TD; Isaiah Toquam, 3-for-78, TD; Jon Kraling, 2-for-7

BP rushing: Kraling, 15-for-52; Zellmer, 5-for-6, TD; Ryan McCabe, 1-for-3; Gabe Kartes, 5-for-1

BP penalties: 2-for-10

Interceptions: Michael Thomas (1)

Sacks: Alex Fiebiger (1)

LeCenter passing: Pat Lloyd, 11-for-134, TD, INT

LeCenter receiving: Drew Dwyer, 3-for-45; Nick Chadderon, 1-for-24; Cole McCabe, 1-for-16; Matt Lloyd, 2-for-15; Jeremey Bosacker, 1-for-9; Noah Johnson, 1-for-3, TD

LeCenter rushing: Mario Arroyo, 33-for-135, TD; Wes Berninghaus, 12-for-49; Austin Buss, 4-for-23; Ryan Zimmerman, 1-for-2; Pat Lloyd, 6-for-(-5), TD

LeCenter penalties: 1-for-15

LeCenter 7 7 0 6 — 20

BP 7 12 6 13 — 38

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

(BP) 8:32 Hatch 14 pass from Zellmer (Pat Jones kick) (8 plays, 71 yards)

(L) :12 Noah Johnson 3 pass from A.J. Sowieja (Daniel Nunez kick) (7 plays, 71 yards)

Second quarter

(BP) 11:40 Kartes 74 pass from Zellmer (kick failed) (2 plays, 76 yards)

(L) 1:18 Arroyo 1 run (Nunez kick) (9 plays, 65 yards)

(BP) :23 Hueman 25 pass from Zellmer (run failed) (5 plays, 49 yards)

Third quarter

(BP) 2:45 Isaiah Toquam 10 pass from Zellmer (pass failed) (1 play, 10 yards)

Fourth quarter

(BP) 10:34 Kartes 6 pass from Zellmer (run failed) (5 plays, 70 yards)

(L) 8:24 Lloyd run (run failed) (8 plays, 41 yards)

(BP) 4:30 Zellmer 1 run (Jones kick) (6 plays, 65 yards)