GOING THE DISTANCE … Evergreen’s Will Ruetz goes 79 yards for a touchdown to tie the game in the first quarter.
PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
TACKLE ATTEMPT … Bryce Bolger tries to trip up the Liberty Center ball carrier.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (October 3, 2025) – Anyone who runs for 201 yards in a game had a really, really good night. Thing was, Liberty Center’s Garrison Kruse ran for the same 201 yards in the FIRST HALF at Evergreen Friday night, and he and the rest of the Tigers rolled to a 57-7 romp over the Vikings.
Liberty Center is still unbeaten on the season at 7-0 and has now won a record 31 straight NWOAL games.
Kruse actually had a very pedestrian first possession, gaining 11 yards on just a single carry as the Tigers went 67 yards on just five plays for a score after a Viking punt.
Baxter Barrett’s 40-yard bulldozing romp was the big play that set up Thomas Mohler’s 18-yard burst with 8:28 left in the first for a 7-0 lead.
It took Evergreen only 38 seconds to get that score back when Wil Ruetz took a Bryce Bolger screen pass, eluded a defender, and bolted 79 yards through the Tiger defense to tie the game.
That would be it for Evergreen scoring-wise on the night, while the Tigers scored again and again. A 23-yard run by Kruse and Mohler’s 17-yard jaunt set up Kaden Kreinbrink’s 10-yard toss to Isaiah Badenhop with 3:29 left still in the first to give the Tigers the lead for good at 14-7.
From that point, Kruse took over. In the Tigers’ next series, the big running back went 57 yards on the fourth play for a 21-7 lead.
Then, after Max Walker picked off a tipped Bolger pass, Kruse went 30 on the third play to pay dirt and a 29-7 advantage.
Bolger hit Quinn Eisel in the flat, and the speedy receiver went 43 yards to get deep into Tiger territory, but on a fourth-and-one at the 10, Bolger was stuffed for no gain, and the Tigers took over on downs.
Kruse’s 37-yard run put him in position for yet another score from 36 yards away that made it 36-7 with 2:47 to go in the half, and after another Evergreen punt, Mohler capped a short Tiger drive with a four-yard run that made it 43-7 at half.
Barrett went two plays of 31 and 11 for a score to hit the 50 mark, and Drew Silveus went in from six yards away on the last play of the third for the final tally of the night.
In all, Liberty Center ran for 489 yards on the night and added 76 in the air for a total of 565. Bolger was 13-18 for 199 yards, but the Vikings were held to 15 yards on the ground.
Liberty Center hosts Delta on Friday night while Evergreen (5-2) travels to winless Swanton.