sports@nujournal.com

GIBBON — The Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Firebirds started the game picking up their own kickoff and didn’t look back, taking down the Blackhawks and holding them to only nine yards of offense.

Matthew Lee led the Firebirds offense with seven carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Mason Lehnen closely followed with seven carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Defense for the Firebirds was led by Mason Ahlbrecht and Lane Wingen both with three tackles.

Madelia’s defense was led by Ian Prescher and Judson Smith both with four tackles.

Photo by Brady Dennis Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Bernardo Davila breaks a tackle to score a touchdown during a prep football game against Madelia at Gibbon Football Field on Thursday.

GFW lost the coin toss, but it didn’t seem to matter with Bernardo Davila picking up the GFW kickoff for a turnover. The very next play GFW’s offense got it started with a 20-yard run, followed by Lee taking the ball all the way to the 1-yard line. Lee finished the drive, picking up the last yard and scoring a touchdown to get on the board early. The Firebirds decided to go for the two-point conversion with run in from Owen Swenson to bring the score to 8-0.

The GFW defense picked up where they left off holding the Blackhawks to 0 yards gained and forcing a punt.

After some short gains, Lee brought the Firebirds to the 35-yard line with a handoff from Swenson. Cayson Gosewisch brought them closer, going down at the 5-yard line with a Swenson carry to finish the drive, adding 6 more to the board. The Firebirds attempted to go for the 2-point conversion but were unsuccessful, with an incomplete pass.

The Firebirds special teams were able to recover their own kickoff yet again, not allowing the Blackhawks to get a chance on offense, with the kickoff being picked up by Collin Hacker. Jose Oscar Farias Banda broke through the defense with a 16 yard run, soon followed by another Lee running touchdown to bring the score to 20-0. Oscar Farias Banda added two more points with a run to complete the 2-point conversion bringing the score to 22-0.

The start of the second quarter wasn’t much different with a false start by the Blackhawks, followed by a sack by Luke Bastian.

The Blackhawks were forced to punt but the kicker was tackled before he could get the punt off resulting in the Firebirds to pick up the ball at the 10-yard line. Garrett Stegeman was able to finish the drive with a small gain of two followed by an 8-yard touchdown. The Firebirds were successful with a 2-point conversion with a Lee carry bringing the score to 30-0.

GFW picked up their own kickoff for the third time of the game. Lehnen was able to add to the board with a 40-yard run to bring the score to 36-0. Gosewisch got the two-point conversion with a carry to bring the Firebirds to 38 points.

The Blackhawks were yet again unable to get traction starting with a sack from Wingen. The Firebirds forced yet another turnover forcing the quarterback to fumble around the 15-yard line.

Stegeman had a carry for five yards followed by a touchdown with a GFW two-point conversion to bring the score to 46-0.

The Blackhawks were able to pick up some positive yards with 4-yard carry from Gabriel McCabe, followed by a first down from the quarterback. The Blackhawks fumbled the ball but we able to pick it up. However, the very next play the Firebirds forced another fumble, this time causing a turnover. The Firebirds ended the first half scoring 8 more with a 15-yard run from Gosewisch and a 2-point conversion, with a Davila carry to bring the halftime score to 54-0.

GFW started on offense in the second half taking little time to add more, with a 25-yard carry from Ahlbrecht to score, followed by a 2-point conversion with a Gosewisch carry to make it 62-0.

After a kickoff return from McCabe, Madelia was unable to get positive yards forcing another turnover.

In the fourth quarter Madelia was able to add 8 points, with a 1-yard run and a 2-point conversion bringing the final score to 62-0.

GFW (3-3) is at Springfield next on Wednesday, while Madelia (0-6) hosts St. James Area on Wednesday.