by Sports Editor Scott DCamp
Thief River Falls racked up 371 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in a 40-14 opening night triumph over Roseau Thursday night at Swenson Field in Thief River Falls.
“We moved the ball well and outside of one drive where we came up a yard short, we overcame those penalties,” Head Coach Kurt Reynolds said. “We have to clean those up. If those penalties weren’t called, it could have been 60-0.”
The Prowlers scored on their first three possessions of the game, all of which came in the first quarter.
Following a Rams three and out, the Prowlers pieced together a six-play, 58-yard scoring drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown run by senior Griffin Lundeen.
The Rams again went three and out on their second possession and the Prowlers took advantage with a nine-play, 40-yard drive. The scoring drive ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Lundeen on a fourth and goal from the three.
The Rams were flagged for a facemask penalty on Lundeen’s run and the Prowlers opted to enforce the penalty on the kickoff. Kicking from the Roseau 45-yard line, Senior Brayden Spears pooched a kick down the far sideline that was recovered at the Roseau 25.
The Prowlers took advantage of an even shorter field and scored five plays later on a two-yard run by quarterback Caleb Rosendahl.
Spears, who had gone 2-for-2 in PATs to start the game, had his third extra point attempt blocked, making the score 20-0 in favor of the Prowlers.
The Prowlers got the ball back early in the second quarter and put together a 15-play drive that was marred by penalties. The 73-yard drive didn’t produce any points, but it did back the Rams up to their own 9-yard line while taking over nine minutes off the clock.
After failing to score in the second quarter, the Prowlers’ offense got back on track right away in the third quarter. Gabe Winter, Lundeen, Spears and Jackson Boyer all carried the ball on a 10-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a three-yard scoring run by Boyer. The Prowlers’ two-point conversion failed and the score remained 26-0.
Roseau put together its first sustained drive of the game on the ensuing possession, going 25 yards on 10 plays. The drive stalled with an incomplete pass on a fourth and eight from the Thief River Falls 42-yard line.
The Prowlers scored again to open the fourth quarter, as Rosendahl crossed the goal line for the second time in the contest on an 8-yard run. Spears added the PAT to make it 33-0.
The Rams may have some playmakers on their roster this year, and the player who stood out the most Thursday night was freshman running back Jordan Borowicz. Borowicz only carried the ball once for six yards in the first three quarters Thursday night. On the Rams’ first possession in the fourth quarter, he added runs of 24 and 70 yards to put his team on the board. The Rams’ two-point play failed and the score remained 33-6.
Following the touchdown, the Rams opted to try an onside kick, which they recovered with ease at the Thief River Falls 45-yard line. Borowicz, junior Tucker Kvien and junior Jack Jerome all carried the ball on an eight-play scoring drive that ended with a five-yard run by Jerome. Roseau quarterback Eli Wensloff completed the two-point pass to Christian Larson to make the score 33-14 with 4:39 left to play.
“They finally scored when we put our sophomores in,” Reynolds said. “We had to seize control of the game back and put some of our starters back in. We got Gannon [Zutz] some important snaps at quarterback. It’s been 10 years since we beat a team to open the season, so I am glad to be back in the win column.”
The Prowlers regained control with a six-play, 55-yard scoring drive that concluded with a three-yard touchdown run by Zutz.
Overall, Reynolds was pleased with the way his offensive line handed Roseau’s defensive line and linebackers.
“I figured we would struggle with some of the big guys, and they had big guys in, but we stood up to them,” Reynolds said. “They went to kind of a six-man front called a TNT defense and we were still able to move the ball. We moved the ball on every drive.”
Defensively, the Prowlers held the Rams in check for most of the contest.
“We were able to get a pretty good rush on them,” Reynolds said. “They had some talented guys and when we had the young kids in, they were able to get to the end zone. They weren’t subbing out, so we put some of our starters back in to finish the game.”
The Rams did not force the Prowlers to punt at any point in Thursday’s contest. The only thing that truly slowed the Prowlers offensively were penalties. Thief River Falls was flagged seven times for 60 yards on the day, including five holding penalties.
Prowlers continue dominance over Rams
Thief River Falls and Roseau renewed their football rivalry last week with their first head-to-head game since 2016. The Prowlers won that game 33-0. Overall, Thief River Falls has won 10 straight in the series dating back to a playoff meeting in 2005.
Starting off on the right foot
The win is the Prowlers’ first in a season opener since a 36-12 win at Roseau in 2013. That season was also the last year the Prowlers won their home opener, with a 26-12 victory over Pequot Lakes coming in week two.
The 2013 season was the last time the Prowlers started a season 2-0. The Prowlers will look to accomplish that feat again Friday night when they travel to Morris to face the Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers, who are 1-0 after a 40-20 win over Minnewaska Area.
The Tigers will be a much different squad than the Rams team the Prowlers defeated in week one.
Scoring
1 2 3 4 T
Roseau 0 0 0 14 14
TRF 20 0 6 14 40
First Quarter
TRF – Griffin Lundeen 4-yard run (Brayden Spears kick)
TRF – Lundeen 5-yard run (Spears kick)
TRF – Caleb Rosendahl 2-yard run (kick blocked)
Second Quarter – No scoring
Third Quarter
TRF – Boyer 3-yard run (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
TRF – Caleb Rosendahl 8-yard run (Spears kick)
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz 70-yard run (pass failed)
Roseau – Jack Jerome 5-yard run (Eli Wensloff pass to Christian Larson)
TRF – Gannon Zutz 3-yard run (Spears kick)
Team Statistics
• First downs – Roseau 7; TRF 18.
• Fumbles (total-lost) – Roseau 1-0; TRF 1-0.
• Penalties (number-yards) – Roseau 5-45; TRF 7-60.
• Punts (number-average) – Roseau 4-44.75; TRF – None
• Rushing (attempts-yards) – Roseau 30-221; TRF 55-371.
• Passing – (Roseau) 2-for-9, 17 yards; (TRF) 2-for-5, 16 yards.
• Total yards – Roseau 238; TRF 387.
Individuals
• Rushing – (Roseau) Jordan Borowicz 5-138, 1 TD; Tucker Kvien 10-43; Eli Wensloff 9-21; Jack Jerome 1-5, TD; (TRF) Gabe Winter 14-93; Jackson Boyer 11-82, TD; Caleb Rosendahl 11-59, 2 TD; Brayden Spears 7-57, TD; Griffin Lundeen 8-51, 2 TD, Jameson Hurst 2-16, Jaxon Hams 1-10, Gannon Zutz 1-3.
• Passing – (Roseau) Eli Wensloff 2-for-9, 17 yards; (TRF) Caleb Rosendahl 2-for-5, 16 yards.
• Receiving – (Roseau) Jordan Borowicz 2-17; (TRF) Nathan Nelson 1-9; Jackson Boyer 1-7.
Mid Northwest Red District
Division Overall
W L W L
Thief River Falls 0 0 1 0
Detroit Lakes 0 0 1 0
East Grand Forks 0 0 1 0
Fergus Falls 0 0 1 0
Little Falls 0 0 1 0
Morris Area 0 0 1 0
Perham 0 0 1 0
DGF 0 0 0 1
• Scores – Week 1 – Thief River Falls 40, Roseau 14; Detroit Lakes 27, Rocori 25; East Grand Forks 33, Crookston 7; Fergus Falls 42, Park Rapids Area 28; Little Falls 30, Pierze 16; Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 40, Minnewaska Area 20; Perham 24, Hawley 0; Barnesville 14, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 7.
• Upcoming games (Week 2) – Thief River Falls at Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta; Perham at Detroit Lakes; Fergus Falls at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton; Little Falls at East Grand Forks.