DEVILS LAKE — The Firebirds couldn’t replicate their glory from last November’s state semifinals.
For the second straight year, Devils Lake’s season began with a blowout loss to Kindred. This time, it was on the Firebirds’ home turf at Roller Field.
“We didn’t do what they were coached to do,” Devils Lake head coach Todd Lambrecht said. “And it’s disheartening. But also, those kind of things happen. So we’ve just got to live and learn and keep getting better.”
Devils Lake (0-1) was shut out in a 35-0 loss to the Vikings (1-0) on the first Friday night of the Division AA season. Kindred had three touchdown receptions — two by Minnesota Gophers commit Brooks Bakko — and two touchdown rushes.
For Lambrecht, the issue came down to tackling.
“We had ‘em quite a few times, and they just slipped because we didn’t tackle,” Lambrecht said. “Our heads were down.”
The Vikings played without Clemson-committed lineman Luke Starcevic, who’s still recovering from an injury sustained during last year’s playoffs. He’s expected to return this season, and he still helped out during warmups. But his absence didn’t seem to affect Kindred too direly. Junior Jackson Schlieman stepped in smoothly to the quarterback role, throwing for 187 yards unofficially, and senior running back Brock Johnson had 76 rushing yards.
Devils Lake had issues offensively, too. The Firebireds tallied just three first downs in the first half. Senior Talan Gregory, in his first start at quarterback since his sophomore year, went 2-for-6 with 21 passing yards and an interception before halftime.
“I thought he played fairly well,” Lambrecht said when assessing Gregory’s night. “He had a couple throws that were off, and throwing against his body. They get told multiple times they shouldn’t do that. We can say that, but when you get out there on the field, sometimes your brain doesn’t always connect with what you’re told. So it’s one of those things where I know he’s gonna beat himself up for it, and he’s gonna watch film, and he’s gonna make himself better.”
A 21-yard reception by Javen Johnson and a wide-open 16-yard pass to Bakko in the end zone fueled Kindred’s opening score. The Vikings converted on fourth down during the drive.
Devils Lake committed seven penalties in the first half and eight overall, including two on its first possession — a three-and-out. Bakko returned the ball all the way to the Firebirds’ 36.
“We shot ourselves in the foot quite a few times in the first half,” Lambrecht said. “We had some young spots, and it kind of showed. And we just need to do a better job coaching them so they’re better at that scenario.”
Devils Lake caught a break as Taylor Longie came up with an interception. But the Firebirds didn’t do much with it. Running back Egan Laite achieved their initial first down of the game, but they still ended up punting.
Kindred turned it over on downs with some strong coverage by Will Heilman in the second quarter. The Firebirds had to punt again after another penalty-plagued drive.
The Vikings had missed the extra point following their first score, but Myles Thielges picked up a two-point conversion after a 43-yard touchdown reception by Graham Hesse. It was 14-0 around the middle of the second quarter.
Devils Lake turned it over on downs at its own 34, setting up another dangerous field position for Kindred. Bakko promptly took a 34-yard touchdown down the left sideline.
Bakko had 70 total yards unofficially, 59 in the first half, not counting his strong kick returns.
Devils Lake leaned more on running plays with Laite, Heilman and Easton Encinas than on passing. Gregory completed his first positive passing play late in the first half on a 25-yard reception by tight end Billy Enget. He was promptly picked off by Eli Maack on the next play.
The Firebirds mixed things up a little in the second half, utilizing a wildcat formation to get the ball in Heilman’s hands a couple times. He had a 15-yard pass up the middle to Laite. It turned into Devils Lake’s best chance at scoring, a 73-yard drive in the third quarter that ended on a turnover on downs at the one-yard line.
“[Wildcat]’s a formation we use now and again, and we get some run-pass stuff out of it,” Lambrecht said. “So it’s out there. Teams will watch it. And it’s something we go to just because of what we have for personnel.”
Both of Kindred’s touchdowns in the second half came on long runs: 20 yards from Brock Johnson and 27 yards from Thielges.
Unofficially, Gregory and Heilman finished with 40 passing and rushing yards, respectively.
Laite had 16 carries for 59 yards.
“Egan’s a hard runner, and I think there’s more there,” Lambrecht said. “We’ve just got to do a better job up front on sustaining our blocks. We were getting into guys, but we weren’t moving with them and making them move. And that’s one thing that we need to do better of. And their O-line coach, which is me, needs to do a better job emphasizing that.”
Encinas had six carries and one reception for 21 total yards of offense. He also had a couple of near-sacks on defense.
There ultimately wasn’t enough offensive juice overall to compete with Kindred’s explosive plays.
“We utilize what we have. … We use little increments here and there, and they weren’t watching [Encinas] a whole lot, so he got the ball a lot more,” Lambrecht said. “And then there’ll be times where teams will watch him, and somebody else will [get a chance]. It’s just, we use increments like that, and he was there today.”
The Firebirds lost at home for the first time since October 2024.
Last year started with a 30-point loss to Kindred, though — and it ended with a state championship.
“You don’t want to lose the first game; we did. So now all we can do is just step up and get better,” Lambrecht said. “And then if we have a big increase from last week to this week, that’s what we want to see. Want to see better blocking up front. Want to see more hustle out of everybody. Want to see more energy out of everybody, and just playing together better as a unit.”
Devils Lake hosts Central Cass for its homecoming game Friday at 6 p.m.