Reagle would force a safety on a great tackle with 10:22 remaining in the third quarter and pick up a pair of interceptions late in the game as Frewsburg opened up its offense with time winding down.

Maple Grove moved to 1-2 with the win while the Bears fell to 0-3 on the year.

“He’s banged up but he played a heck of a game,” Maple Grove coach Justin Hanft said of Reagle. “We try to feature him. He is our most explosive player, but he’s been battling a high-ankle sprain which has been tough. Both in practice and in the game we’ve been very limited in how many reps he can get every week. We said at the start in the locker room that we were going to expect a lot of our seniors and all of our seniors came to play.”

Reagle would rush nine times for 32 yards and finish with six tackles on defense.

Maple Grove’s Jake Tomlinson recovers a fumble during an eight-man football game against Frewsburg on Friday night. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

From the first series of the night, the Red Dragons defense looked ready to go as Carter Martin and Jake Tomlinson combined for a sack on third down to send the Bears punting unit onto the field.

On its second offensive series, Maple Grove would drive down to the Frewsburg 6-yard line on a pair of runs by Reagle that were extended by a penalty for a late hit.

That drive turned wrong inside the red zone as the Red Dragons suffered a fumble.

With two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Frewsburg would find itself backed into a corner again with Caleb Carr lined up to punt.

A bad snap on that play would fly over Carr’s hands, giving Maple Grove their first two points of the day on a safety.

“We knew going into the season we were a young team, so just cleaning up the mistakes and not shooting ourselves in the foot would give us the best chance to win,” Hanft said. “We have done that and progressively gotten better each week, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”

The defensive battle would continue up to halftime, when the Red Dragons were able to make some adjustments and come out ready to start the third quarter.

Jackson Gowan would find Tomlinson on a 15-yard catch and run to get things started, before hitting Cade Egan for 28 yards to bring Maple Grove down to the 4-yard line.

The Bears defense would hold strong there, forcing a turnover on downs as the Red Dragons tried unsuccessfully to punch in their first touchdown of the night.

Reagle would make the most of the opportunity after switching over to defense, slashing into the backfield for a safety to give his team a 4-0 lead.

The Red Dragons offense would make the most of their next possession following a Frewsburg kick, as Reagle rushed his way upfield for a 20-yard return to set Maple Grove up near midfield.

Martin would give the hosts their only touchdown of the night, ripping off a 37-yard run up the right side with 8:34 remaining in the third, with Tomlinson adding two more points on a bruising conversion.

“It feels good to get a win on the board for the season,” Hanft said. “We’ve definitely learned from Week 1 to Week 3. We have changed some things up personnel-wise. We have some guys in different spots both offensively and defensively, and we just continue to focus on that getting better.”

NOTES: Zack Winters led the Bears under center, rushing 16 times for 97 yards while Zach Heberlein rushed eight times for 35 yards. … Peyton Hayes had 10 tackles and John Alianell seven for the Bears. … Martin finished his night with 72 yards on 14 carries while Gowan picked up 47 yards on seven carries. … Kyle Trim led Maple Grove with nine tackles.

Frewsburg 0 0 0 0 — 0

Maple Grove 2 0 10 0 — 12

MG–Safety (snap out of end zone)

MG–Safety (Reagle tackled ball carrier in end zone)

MG–Martin 37 run (Tomlinson run)