ALDEN — Friday night just wasn’t the night for the Alden-Conger football team.

Seven penalties, four turnovers and a handful of broken arm tackles helped produce the final lopsided score, a 74-6 loss to the fifth-ranked team in the state, Hills-Beaver Creek.

Quarterback Jordon Johnson scored the Knights’ lone touchdown in the third quarter on a 28-yard run.

“Tonight things didn’t go our way,” said Alden-Conger head coach Nick Willaert. “Injuries, penalties, you name it, we suffered from it.”

Patriots’ quarterback Jordan Larson torched the Knights’ secondary over multiple occasions on Friday night, including the game’s first score on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Reese.

Larson tossed two more touchdown passes in the first half before leaving the game. His second trip to the end zone came on a 32-yard reception by Jeff Sandbulte followed by a second hookup with Reese on a 22-yard bomb in the second quarter.

“We played with a lot of heart, a lot of intensity and unfortunately we were outmatched tonight,” Willaert said. “You can’t blame them for that.”

Alden-Conger allowed 430 yards rushing over the course of the game. The Patriots’ junior running back, Dalton Bass, led the team with 176 yards on 11 carries, including touchdown runs of 4, 73 and 44 yards, all in the first half.

Tate Bork picked up where Bass left off in the second half. Bork toted the rock five times for 170 yards and two scores. His end zone scampers came on runs of 49 and 65 yards.

“I think you focus on the good things that you did, which are far and few between,” Willaert said. “When you play a better team, you go out there and do the best you can.”

Johnson got the Knights on the scoreboard in the third quarter. The junior followed sophomore Matt Erickson up the middle on a quarterback draw before breaking to the left and across the pylon on a 28-yard run.

Alden-Conger’s lone score was one of the few positive notes for the Knights. Freshman Ty Lerum and senior Joel Faugstad both were able to recover Patriots’ fumbles during the game.

Willaert pointed out that he was very impressed by the way the younger players on his team stepped up.

“We had a few guys missing tonight and some guys stepping up,” he said. “When your asking freshman to play at a varsity level against a team that is ranked No. 5 in the state, they’re already doing a lot.”

The Knights entered their contest with the Patriots on a high note just one week after snapping an 11-game skid in a 44-20 victory over Truman. They will have to find a way to rekindle that magic next week as they head to Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

“We just move on and think about next week,” Willaert said. “We can’t do anything about this game. We just forget about it and move on.”

Hills-Beaver Creek 74, Alden-Conger 6

Hills-Beaver Creek 24 36 8 6 — 74

Alden-Conger 0 0 6 0 — 6

First Quarter

HBC_Taylor Reese 15 pass from Jordan Larson (2-pt good) 8:41

HBC_Dalton Bass 4 run (2-pt good) 6:20

HBC_Taylor Leuthold 4 run (2-pt good) 3:00

Second Quarter

HBC_Jeff Sandbulte 32 pass from Jordan Larson (2-pt good) 11:18

HBC_Dalton Bass 73 run (2-pt no good) 9:25

HBC_Taylor Reese 22 pass from Jordan Larson (2-pt good) 3:47

HBC_Dalton Bass 44 run (2-pt good) 38.7

HBC_Caleb Schroer 20 run (2-pt no good) 22.2

Third Quarter

HBC_Tate Bork 49 run (2-pt good) 9:43

AC_Jordon Johnson 28 run (2-pt no good) 8:31

Fourth Quarter

HBC_Tate Bork 65 run (2-pt no good) 11:43

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Hills-Beaver Creek, Dalton Bass 11-176, Tate Bork 5-170, Taylor Leuthold 7-66, Caleb Schroer 2-25, John Luze 2-2, Jordan Larson 1-(-1), Caleb Vis 2-(-8). Alden-Conger, Tony Behnke 8-63, Jordon Johnson 15-60, Matt Erickson 13-40, Dustin Gilbert 2-6, Deon Skinner 5-5, Jordan Bute 2-4.

PASSING — Hills-Beaver Creek, Jordan Larson 9-16-143-0 . Alden-Conger, Jordon Johnson 1-4-(-8)-1.

RECEIVING — Hills-Beaver Creek, Taylor Reese 3-62, Jeff Sandbulte 2-38, Dalton Bass 1-23, Brady Vaughn 2-13, Seth Nuffer 1-7. Alden-Conger, Matt Erickson 1-(-8).