Detroit Lakes Beats Perham For The Paddle; Carrier Bros Combine for 460 yards

The Detroit Lakes Football team celebrates with the paddle after defeating Perham 49-6 at Mollberg Field on September 23, 2022 (Photo: John Millea/MSHSL)

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – The Detroit Lakes Lakers football team moved to 4-0 on the season after a 49-6 win over rival Perham in the annual Battle for the Paddle game.

The Lakers took the lead twenty seconds into the game on a 79-yard touchdown run by Ethan Carrier on their first offensive play of the game. The next Laker drive was littered with penalties, but the offense overcame them and scored their second touchdown of the quarter on a 12-yard passing touchdown from Caden Strand to Grady Kirchner with 51-seconds left.

Carrier broke off another long touchdown run on a direct snap to the senior running back, scoring from 88-yards out with 5:17 left in the second quarter for his second score of the night to give Detroit Lakes a 21-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Perham produced a big play of their own as Braylon Rach took a Blaiz Schmidt handoff 85 yards to the house for Perham’s only score of the game. Hudson Hackel’s extra point was blocked to make it 21-6.

The Lakers would answer back with three touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half: A 13-yard score by Carrier, then two big passing touchdowns from Strand to Mason Carrier: the first a 78-yard pass down the sideline, and the second a hook and ladder from Strand to Charlie Kalina to Carrier from the 26-yard line.

The Strand-to-Kalina-to-Carrier play. This is what fuels rivalries. You love to see it. @MSHSLjohn @DetLakesHigh @MasonCarrier5 pic.twitter.com/h08HUxR7Y7

— Zeke Fuhrman (@JustTheRadioGuy) September 24, 2022

Ethan Carrier finished the game with 313 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carriers. He also added a catch for 15 yards. Mason Carrier had three carries for 21 yards and three catches for 114 yards and two scores. Together, the pair of future Gophers totaled 463 yards and five touchdowns on sixteen combined touches.

Sophomore Caden Strand, in his second varsity start, was 9 of 11 passing for 190 yards and two scores. In his first two games, Strand has 262 passing yards and five touchdowns and has added 136 yards on the ground.

Sophomore running back Tommy Sucket finished off the scoring for the Lakers with a four-yard touchdown run to make it a 49-6 Laker advantage. Sophomore kicker Nick Buboltz was 7-for-7 on extra point attempts, then played quarterback late in the fourth quarter.

With the win came the return of The Paddle, which was won by Perham last year in a 30-27 stunner in which Perham scored the go-ahead touchdown on a hook-and-ladder play with under a minute left in the game. In the post-game scrum with the Paddle, the Lakers accidentally snapped it in half.

Here’s the scene a few seconds before the Detroit Lakes players snapped the Paddle into two pieces. https://t.co/1tZWIb4kZn pic.twitter.com/RRwbuYCO8A

— John Millea (@MSHSLjohn) September 24, 2022

The Lakers have now won eight of the last twelve games against Perham.

Next up for Detroit Lakes: a trip to Pequot Lakes to face the 3-1 Patriots. Pequot shut out Park Rapids 50-0 on Friday night. Perham (2-2) will head to Fergus Falls to face the 1-3 Otters, who were shut out by Thief River Falls 34-0. Next Friday’s kickoff in Pequot is at 6:00.

TEAM SCORING

PHS – 0 6 0 0 – 6

DL – 14 28 7 0 – 49

SCORING SUMMARY:

Q1 –

DL: 11:40 – 79-yd TD run by E. Carrier (Buboltz XP good), 7-0

DL: 00:51 – 12-yd TD pass Strand to Kirchner (Buboltz XP good) 14-0

Q2 –

DL: 8:58 – 88-yd TD run E. Carrier (Buboltz XP good) 21-0

PHS: 7:53 – 85-yd TD run Rach (Hackel XP blocked ) 21-6

DL: 5:17 – 13-yd TD run E. Carrier (Buboltz XP good) 28-6

DL: 3:15 – 78-yd TD pass Strand to M. Carrier (Buboltz XP good) 35-6