by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
East Grand Forks quarterback Carter Beck completed 8-of-16 passes for 140 yards, with one passing touchdown and one receiving touchdown, to the lead the Green Wave to a 13-6 win over Thief River Falls.
Thief River Falls committed four turnovers but still had a chance to tie the game late. What would turn out to be the Prowlers’ second to last possession of the game stalled at their own 45 yard line. Rather than punt, the Prowlers opted to try to convert on a fourth and nine.
Head Coach Bryce Lingen said the difficult decision was made because his team only had one timeout remaining.
“We’ve been waiting all year for someone to make a play,” said Head Coach Bryce Lingen. “We made some plays tonight, but we needed to make one more play on that one.”
Thief River Falls’ redzone troubles continued, as the Prowlers failed to turn any of their four redzone trips into points.
East Grand Forks also struggled to move the ball. After an offensive stalemate for much of the first half, the Green Wave passing game got going. Beck completed four passes in a row and added a six yard run to complete a six-play, 60-yard scoring drive that gave the Green Wave a 7-0 lead with less than a minute to play in the first half.
Thief River Falls answered with a six-play drive of its own that included 18 yards on three carries by Josh Bernier and a pair of long pass completions from Brayden Johnson to Teagan Kruckeberg and Myles Johnson for 16 and 19 yards, respectively. Unfortunately, the game clock read triple zeros when Johnson was brought down at the 19-yard-line.
East Grand Forks looked to add to its lead when play resumed in the second half. Instead, it was Thief River Falls that would score, as linebacker Connor Swanson scooped up a loose ball on the East Grand Forks 23-yard-line and sprinted into the endzone to put the Prowlers on the board. Alexander Grant’s extra point was blocked and the Green Wave stayed in front 7-6.
After an East Grand Forks three and out, Thief River Falls got the ball back with a chance to take the lead. The Prowlers picked up a first down on a horse collar penalty before ethe drive stalled at their own 41-yard-line. Rather than punt, Lingen chose to roll the dice with a fake punt. The fake, which called for a direct snap to Bernier, who was lined up as an up-back, and Bernier carried the ball 23 yards for a first down. Nine plays later, the Prowlers had reached the East Grand Forks three yard line. They appeared destined to score, when East Grand Forks forced a fumble and recovered it at their own three yard line. The play wasn’t without controversy, as an inadvertent whistle was blown prior to the fumble or subsequent East Grand Forks recovery.
The Prowlers forced a three-and-out, and got the ball back at the East Grand Forks 48 yard line. However, a pass from Brayden Johnson to Myles Johnson that was ruled to be a backwards pass hit the ground and was recovered by Noah Garcia to give the ball back to East Grand Forks.
East Grand Forks wasted littling time on its next possession, as Beck completed a 43-yard pass to Jake Hjelle to set the Green Wave up with a first and goal at the nine yard line. Three plays later, running back Dylan Selk took a pitch from Beck, sprinted to his right, and threw the ball back to Beck who was wide open on the backside for a seven-yard touchdown reception. The extra point was blocked and East Grand Forks had a 13-6 lead with almost a full quarter to play.
Thief River Falls got the ball back three more times with chances to tie the game. The first drive ended in the Prowlers’ third turnover of the game; and the other two ended with a turnover on downs.
With the loss, Thief River Falls fell to 1-4, while East Grand Forks improved to 2-3.
Scoring
1 2 3 4 T
EGF 0 7 0 6 13
TRF 0 0 6 0 6
EGF – Carter Beck 7-yard pass to Jake Hjelle, kick successful.
TRF – Connor Swanson, 23-yard fumble return, kick failed
EGF – Dylan Selk 7-yard pass to Carter Beck, kick failed.
Team Statistics
n Fumbles (total-lost) – TRF 4-4; East Grand Forks 3-2.
n Penalties (number-yards) – TRF 6-45; EGF 5-45.
n Punts (number-average) – TRF 3-30.0; EGF 4-35.5.
n Rushing (attempts-yards) – TRF 42-130; EGF 29-87.
n Passing – TRF 8-for-15, 83 yards; EGF 9-for-17, 147 yards, 2 touchdowns.
n Total yards – TRF – 213; EGF – 234.
Individuals
n Rushing – (TRF) Josh Bernier 30-117; (EGF) Myles Johnson Ethan Trebil 16-39.
n Passing – (TRF) Brayden Johnson 6-of-13, 68 yards; Cade Lundeen 2-for-2, 15 yards; (EGF) Carter Beck 8-for-16, 140 yards, touchdown; Dylan Selk 1-for-1, 7 yards, touchdown.
n Receiving – (TRF) Myles Johnson 3-28; (EGF) Luke Vonesh 2-55; Jake Hjelle 2-52, touchdown; Carter Beck 1-7, touchdown.