by Mike Lundgren
Sports Editor
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton receivers found themselves in the open on numerous occasions during Friday’s high school football match-up with Thief River Falls. And they were rewarded for their efforts with perfectly-placed passes from quarterback Blake Kragnes, who led the defending Section 8AAA champion Rebels past last year’s Section 8AAAA runner-up, 37-19.
Kragnes threw a conservative 11 passes, but he connected on nine of them for 280 yards and three touchdowns.
Most were long downfield throws after receivers Ethan Johnson, Chase Schumann Alex Matthews and Brandon Wayne broke away from Thief River Falls defenders.
“We got burned,” acknowledged Thief River Falls coach Aric Attig. “We didn’t communicate. We broke down due to a lack of communication on assignments.”
It was the second straight loss at home to start the 2014 season for the Prowlers, who were out-scored by Little Falls 43-40 in the opener. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton accumulated 523 yards of offense, with Kragnes’ passing complemented by a punishing 243-yard ground game. The Visitors were up 24-6 at halftime.
“They’re a very good football team,” confirmed Attig. “They came out and played hard for four quarters. They got on us early, and after we made a run at them in the second half, they responded and put the game away.”
It didn’t take long for Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton to show its stuff. The game’s first play from scrimmage was a 40-yard run by Alex Fuchs that instigated an 8-play, 78-yard scoring drive. Johnson broke open across the middle and hauled in a 28-yard pass from Kragnes for the touchdown 3:37 after the kickoff.
Thief River Falls would come right back with a drive that reached the Rebels’ 5-yard line. But a third-and-two turned into a fourth-and-five, with a quarterback sack ending the threat.
Most of the yards on a four-play, 48-yard Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton drive that made it 12-0 came on a 33-yard touchdown pass as Kragnes lobbed the ball to a wide-open Matthews in the back of the end zone 2:28 into the second quarter.
Moments later the Rebels’ Jordan Olson came up with a pass interception at the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 45.
It took the Rebels just two minutes to go up 18-0. A first-down Kragnes-to-Matthews pass down the middle went for 39 yards, and hard-running Joe Flatt took a dive play seven yards for the score.
Thief River Falls answered with a sustained 16-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that featured nine Nathanael Holecek carries, including a 3-yarder off left tackle for the score with 1:21 remaining in the first half.
However, what momentum the Prowlers might have hoped to carry into halftime quickly disappeared when Kragnes threaded the needle on a 52-yard first snap strike to Matthews that took the Rebels to the Thief River Falls 4-yard line.
The Prowlers tried to hold, keeping Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton out of the end zone on three straight drive plays. A procedure penalty pushed the Rebels back to the seven, but they scored on fourth down when Kragnes rolled out and found Schumann in the right corner of the end zone with just 9.1 seconds on the clock. The receiver was well-covered on the play, but the ball was thrown perfectly.
Two Thief River Falls third quarter touchdowns made it look like a comeback win was a possibility.
A 35-yard Zeb Nelson pass to Grant Stewart and a 24-yard Holecek run led to a 2-yard Holecek touchdown dive on the first possession of the second half.
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton lost the ball on a punt reception that was recovered by Stewart at the Rebels’ 38. On first down, Nelson hit Noah Hawkins with a 36-yard pass between a pair of defensive backs. Three plays later Holecek took a hand-off on dive play from the one. He fumbled, but the ball rolled into the end zone and Thief River Falls lineman Trevor Johnson fell on it for a touchdown.
Snapping a run of six missed conversions by the two teams, Brayden Ivaniszyn was good on his first extra-point kick attempt of the year to pull the Prowlers within 24-19 with 2:04 remaining in the third quarter.
The rally was quickly squashed. On the first scrimmage play after Thief River Falls touchdown, Kragnes threw long and hit Wayne, who was open in the secondary, for a 48-yard gain to the Prowlers’ 23.
A fourth-down Kragnes pass into the end zone from the 3-yard line was incomplete, but an interference call on the Prowlers gave the Rebels another shot. They capitalized when Wayne powered his way straight ahead for the score on the second play of the fourth quarter, making it 30-19.
“We came out in the second half and showed some heart,” said Attig. “The kids battled and made it a game. But again, we gave up the big play on another communication breakdown.”
Trying to get back in the game, the Prowlers turned the ball over on downs at their own 47 with 4:05 left, and five plays later Wayne went through a big hole on the right side for the final touchdown.
Holecek had a busy 29-carry, 152-yard rushing performance; Nelson was 12-for-22 passing for 164 yards; and Ethan Johnson caught three passes for 118 yards to join Kragness in the offensive spotlight.
Thief River Falls goes on the road for the first time Friday with a 7 p.m. game at East Grand Forks. “Being 0-2 is not where we want to be,” said Attig. “We knew this was going to be a tough game. We just have to pick it up a notch.”
Scoring
1 2 3 4 T
Dilworth-G-F 6 18 0 13 37
Thief River Falls 0 6 13 0 19
D-G-F – Ethan Johnson, 28-yard pass from Blake Kragnes; run failed.
D-G-F – Alex Matthews, 33-yard pass from Kragnes; pass failed.
D-G-F – Joe Flatt, 7-yard run; kick failed.
TRF – Nathanael Holecek, 3-yard run; run failed.
D-G-F – Chase Schumann, 7-yard pass from Kragnes; kick failed.
TRF – Holecek, 2-yard run; pass failed.
TRF – Trevor Johnson, fumble recovery in end zone; Brayden Ivaniszyn kick.
D-G-F – Brandon Wayne, 3-yard run; run failed.
D-G-F – Wayne, 19-yard run; Alex Fuch kick.
Team Statistics
n First downs – TRF 21, D-G-F 14.
n Fumbles (total-lost) – TRF 1-0; D-G-F 2-2.
n Penalties (number-yards) – TRF 3-12; D-G-F 7-45.
n Punts (number-average) – TRF 2-31.5; D-G-F 30.5.
n Rushing (attempts-yards) – TRF 48-201; D-G-F 38-243.
n Passing – 12-for-22, 164 yards, 1 interception; D-G-F 9-for-11, 280 yards, 3 touchdowns.
n Total yards – TRF 365; D-G-F 523.
Individuals
n Rushing – (TRF) Nathanael Holecek 29-152; Noah Hawkins 8-33; Dominic Kruse 2-12; Brady Hoffard 3-5; Zeb Nelson 4-0; Michael Johnson 1-0; Stephen Holecek 1(-)1; (D-G-F) Alex Fuchs 8-77; Joe Flatt 6-58; Brandon Wayne 14-57; Alex Matthews 10-51.
n Passing – (TRF) Zeb Nelson 12-for-22, 164 yards, 1 interception; (D-G-F) Blake Kragnes 9-for-11, 280 yards, 3 touchdowns.
n Receiving – (TRF) Jacob Joppru 6-61; Grant Stewart 4-60; Noah Hawkins 2-43; (D-G-F) Ethan Johnson 3-118; Chase Schuman 2-59; Alex Matthews 2-54; Brandon Wayne 1-48; Joe Flatt 1-1.