Photo courtesy of Nicole Evers Sleepy Eye United’s Gavin Fischer carries the ball in for a touchdown from the 5-yard line in the first quarter of a Mid-South District, Purple Subdistrict football game against BOLD at Sleepy Eye High School.

SLEEPY EYE — Last week, Sleepy Eye United defeated BOLD, a new entrant to Section 2A, to start the season.

BOLD has proved to be a tough opponent over recent years, going 25-6 over the last three years. SEU won by a score of 22-14 in a closely-contested battle at home.

“I think the big keys for us is, when things didn’t go our way and we had a negative play, the kids never dropped their heads,” SEU head coach Brent Kucera said. “They fought back hard and the never got down on themselves. That was the biggest change we saw from last year is their fire this year. And they did play with aggression.”

Key in the victory for United was the passing game, as Brayden Heiderscheidt passed for 199 yards, mostly to receiver Carson Uecker, who caught four passes for 95 yards and a score. Kucera said that the passing game and running game would work in tandem this year as the team looked to attack each opponent individually.

“I think it’s going to swing back and forth week to week depending on what teams are giving us and what our matchups are,” he said. “If we match up well in the passing game, we’re going to pass, and vice-versa if we have a good matchup in the run game, we’re going to run the ball. We’re going to strive to be a balanced team this year.”

When it comes to balance, however, RTR may have the edge, as they bring a complete team to the table for SEU’s next game at home on Friday.

“They’re a balanced team of run-pass,” Kucera said. “I think their strength has to do with the balanced attack. Hoping my guys in the box can win the up-front battle for us, would be the biggest key … They’re truly one of the most balanced teams I’ve seen. You can’t key in on one guy or attack one guy, they’re balanced across the field.”

If there is one area that Kucera feels he can attack, it would be the physicality in the box.

“I think we can take them on with our physicality in there,” he said. “And on offense, Carson Uecker and Tyler Mathiowetz are going to have some positive matchups on the outside that we can utilize as well with the pass game.”

Kucera said that as long as the team can limit turnovers, SEU will have a strong chance of winning this game.

“A big key for us for this weekend and the whole season is our offense not turning the ball over,” he said. “Let our defense put the weight of the game on their shoulders. Control the ball, get some scores and let our defense win the game.”