St. Cloud Tech football begins season 0-1 for fifth straight year
SAINT CLOUD — St. Cloud Tech hasn’t won a season-opening football game since it beat Apollo in 2018.
With Thursday’s 28-0 loss to Cambridge-Isanti, the Tigers fall to 0-1 this year and are now 1-18 dating back to 2019.
At times, the Tigers struggled to advance the ball, then when a back broke free for a few solid runs in a row, a fumble gave the ball right back to the Bluejackets.
“We don’t give them the ball five times, who knows,” coach Jon Benson said after the game. “It’s a close game and you have a chance there at the end.”
Benson said on several of the Bluejackets’ ensuing drives, he felt like the defense was playing discouraged and gave up longer runs than if confidence was higher.
Tech was hoping its team with many returners could be a force from the south side of town, especially in the run game. Senior quarterback Connor Harens was supposed to have improved his throwing game and the combination of Damarius Fletcher, Jaden Harris, Owen Demars, Ben Schmitt, Max Kiffmeyer and Jackson Sheetz in the skill positions was supposed to be dangerous.
On Thursday Tech’s run attack was led by Fletcher and Schmitt. They were strong, the pair breaking off several strong runs of double digit yardage, but they couldn't capitalize from the Bluejackets' territory.
Cambridge-Isanti’s blitzers gave Tech’s veteran line trouble, too. They crushed the pocket on several occasions, forcing Harens to hurry his decisions and throw several near-picks.
The Bluejackets' rushing attack was also strong, led by senior running back Levi Maurer, who scored three touchdowns. Crucially, quarterback Braylon Davis completed some passes to open up the running game. He also rushed for two scores.
Benson said Cambridge-Isanti's “saltiness” impressed him. Last year the 2-7 Bluejackets also blanked Tech, clobbering the Tigers 31-0.
"I was pretty happy with the effort,” Benson said. “There’s a lot to build on. I think the physical nature of a football game versus a scrimmage was a little bit of an eye opener for some of our younger players.”
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Red__Glenn
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud Tech football begins season 0-1 for fifth straight year
