Fired up

MOTT -- With the Region 7 nine-man championship already wrapped up, Mott-Regent head coach Ron Benson was unsure how many carries senior running back Brock Gion would have against Hettinger on Friday night.

He received seven, but in reality he only needed four.

Gion scored four touchdowns on runs of 56, 50, 63 and 40 yards to lead the second-ranked Wildfire to 52-0 rout of the Black Devils in Mott and complete a perfect 8-0 regular season.

"I think our kids played pretty hard," Benson said. "We did what we wanted to that first half. We had a lot of yards rushing. It was nice to see Hettinger play their varsity in the first half. I was afraid they might not."

Gion busted loose on the game's first play from scrimmage for a 56-yard touchdown dart down the left sideline, giving Mott-Regent an 8-0 lead after the two-point conversion just 14 seconds into the game.

"As far as the amount of carries, I could care less," said Gion, who gained 233 yards off eight carries two weeks ago. "It's about when I get the ball and what I do with it. That's how we play. If I get two touches, and I get two touchdowns, we're good."

The Black Devils, who will have the region's fourth seed in the playoffs, kept Gion out of the end zone on his next three carries, but were left in his wake on his final three of the evening, all which resulted in touchdowns. Gion finished with 233 yards on seven carries.

"Our linemen make it easy," Gion said. "Some of those yards, yes, I've earned by myself but a lot of them are the line."

Senior fullback Jay Grosz even got in on the action, breaking loose for the longest touchdown run of the day - 74 yards.

"The line blocked real well. Gion ran hard and Jay Grosz had that inside trap," Benson said. "The Grosz's, it's in their blood. He is just one of those weapons we haven't had to use much."

Hettinger was able to use its passing game to drive deep into Wildfire territory on five occasions, but failed to find the end zone, turning the ball over on downs four times. All four turnovers resulted in runaway touchdowns for Mott-Regent.

"They are a good team," Hettinger coach Randy Burwick said. "They are ranked No. 2 in the state for a reason. I thought we came out with some good intensity."

The Wildfire had already wrapped up the Region 7 title, a No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs before the night began.

Hettinger sealed its fate as the No. 4 seed in Region 7 after falling to Central McLean last week. Burwick admitted that his team was already looking past Mott-Regent. The Black Devils travel to Berthold-Our Redeemer's on Tuesday in the first round.

"Personally, we didn't prepare for them very well," Burwick said. "We're looking forward to the playoffs. That is the bigger prize for us. Our goal is to make it back here in two weeks."

While Hettinger didn't put much stock into Friday's contest, Gion said the game was anything but insignificant to the Wildfire, who celebrated senior night and homecoming.

"Every game we play means something to us," Gion said.