by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Very little went right for Thief River Falls Friday night when the Prowlers welcomed defending Section 8AAA champion and state runner-up Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton to Swenson Field. The Rebels shut down the Prowlers offensively and grinded out several long drives of their own in a 36-0 win for the visitors.
All losses sting. But Friday night’s loss hurt worse because of how close the Prowlers came to beating the Rebels in their previous meeting in last year’s Section 8AAA semifinals. During that contest, the Rebels scored a late touchdown to survive the Prowlers’ upset bid with a 14-10 win.
Following the game, Thief River Falls Head Coach Kurt Reynolds challenged his team to take personal responsibility to get better.
“Take ownership,” Reynolds said. “This should have been what we were able to do. We aren’t physical. I don’t know what it is. We didn’t execute the plan and there were few bright spots.”
In their last meeting, DGF quarterback Owen Leach completed a 13-yard pass to Brody O’Keefe with 49 seconds left and Hayden Hauf added the extra point to give the Rebels a 14-10 lead that would end up being in the final score. The Prowlers hoped for a similar game Friday night with a better result. Instead, they were shut out for the first time since week three of the 2021 season. That game was a 28-0 setback against Detroit Lakes.
The Rebels moved the ball well on their opening possession – an 11-play, 56-yard drive that stalled at the TRF 24-yard-line and ended with an incomplete pass by junior quarterback Caleb Johnson on fourth down.
The Prowlers rolled the dice early on their first possession. Facing a fourth and one from their own 33, senior quarterback Caleb Rosendahl called his own number and picked up a pair of yards on a QB sneak. The drive would stall from there, however, and Brayden Spears would be called on to punt.
Spears’ punt went 36 yards, but it got too much of the middle of the field as it was returned 25 yards to the DGF 48. The Rebels took advantage of the short field with an eight-play, 52-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Brody O’Keefe. Hauf added the extra point to give the Rebels a 7-0 lead.
The Prowlers got excellent field position on their second possession after a 34-yard kickoff return by Jameson Hurst gave them the ball at midfield. That drive stalled at the DGF 36. The Prowlers were initially set to go for it on fourth and seven at the 36, but a false start pushed them back to the 41. Spears’ punt was nearly downed inside the two-yard line, but senior Gabe Winter was unable to keep the ball out of the end zone.
Instead of starting with their backs against the goal line, the Rebels started at the 20 for their second possession. The Rebels continued to wear down the Prowler defensive unit with a punishing smash mouth attack on their third possession. The Rebels ate up most of the second quarter on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a five-yard run by Brody Devries. Hauf added his second extra point and the score was 14-0 in favor of the Rebels.
The Prowlers trailed 14-0 when they took the ball to start the second half. They came out in a shotgun version of their T-formation. Both tight ends were split out. The quarterback lined up even with the halfback and the fullback lined up behind the quarterback.
The new look seemed to give the Prowlers a spark for a couple plays as Jackson Boyer and Winter carried for gains of five and seven yards, respectively. Things took a turn for the worse on the fourth place of the half as Rosendahl’s pass was picked off by Ethan Hellerud and returned to the TRF 22-yard line.
The Rebels wasted no time on the ensuing possession, as Johnson found Nicholas Waale in the endzone to make the score 20-0. A two-point conversion made it 22-0.
The Prowlers managed just one more first down the entire game.
The Rebels scored following a six-play, 64-yard drive with Casey Macziewski scoring from five-yards out to go up 29-0. In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Brady Wadena passed to Dylan Bitker to conclude the scoring.
The Prowlers look to right the ship Friday when they head south to face the unbeaten Detroit Lakes Lakers.
Scoring
1 2 3 4 T
DGF 0 14 15 7 36
TRF 0 0 0 0 0
Second quarter
DGF – Brody O’Keefe 29-yard pass from Caleb Johnson (Hayden Hauf kick)
DGF – Brody Devries 5-yard run (Hauf kick)
Third quarter
DGF – Nicholas Waale 22-yard pass from Johnson (Waale pass to Thomas Rehder)
DGF – Casey Macziewski 5-yard run (Hauf kick)
Fourth quarter
DGF – Dylan Bitker 3-yard pass from Brady Wadena (Hauf kick)
Team Statistics
• First downs – DGF 25; TRF 4.
• Fumbles (total-lost) – DGF 1-0; TRF 0-0.
• Penalties (number-yards) – DGF 3-15; TRF 1-5.
• Punts (number-average) – DGF N/A; TRF 4-38.0.
• Rushing (attempts-yards) – DGF 46-236; TRF 23-58.
• Passing – DGF 5-for-7, 70 yards; TRF 1-for-6, 4 yards, 2 Int.
• Total yards – DGF 53-306; TRF 31-62.
Individuals
• Rushing – (DGF) Nicholas Waale 12-79; Brody Devries 9-63, TD; Casey Macziewski 10-40, TD; (TRF) Gabe Winter 8-20; Jameson Hurst 3-11; Jackson Boyer 3-9; Caleb Rosendahl 3-8; Griff Lundeen 3-2; Brayden Spears 2-6; Jaxon Hams 1-2.
• Passing – (DGF) Caleb Johnson 3-for-5, 53 yards, 2 TD; Brady Wadena 2-for-2, 17 yards, TD; (TRF) Caleb Rosendahl 1-for-3, 4 yards, Int.; Gannon Zutz 0-for-3, Int.
• Receiving – (DGF) Brody O’Keefe 1-29, TD; Waale 1-22, TD; Dylan Bitker 1-3, TD; Thomas Thureen 1-14; (TRF) Cooper Anderson 1-4.
Mid Northwest Red District
Division Overall
W L W L
Detroit Lakes 2 0 3 0
Morris Area/C-A 2 0 3 0
DGF 2 0 2 1
East Grand Forks 1 1 2 1
Little Falls 1 1 2 1
Fergus Falls 0 2 1 2
Perham 0 2 1 2
Thief River Falls 0 2 1 2
• Scores – Week 3 – Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 36, Thief River Falls 0; Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 36, Little Falls 29; East Grand Forks 13, Perham 9; Detroit Lakes 31, Fergus Falls 16.
• Upcoming games (Week 4) – Thief River Falls at Detroit Lakes; Little Falls at Perham; Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton; Detroit Lakes at East Grand Forks.