by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls’ defense shutout Perham over the final 22 minutes of Friday night’s game with the team’s offensive unit scoring on a pair of long drives to claim a 34-22 victory.
The win over the Yellowjackets is the Prowlers first since a 22-14 triumph during the 2014 season.
“That was the best we have played collectively all year in all three phases,” said Head Coach Kurt Reynolds. “We gave up three scores on defense, but two scores should have resulted in pass breaks up or interceptions. Our defensive backs have to be more aggressive when they have a chance to make a play. We limited them when it came to big plays for sure. I don’t think they tried to run the ball more than a dozen times, so all the work we did in coverage in practice leading up to that game really paid off.”
They Yellowjackets ran 63 plays offensively and 21 of them are registered as run plays. That is because quarterbacks at the high school and college levels are recorded as running plays with a tackle for loss.
Perham starting quarterback Alex Blume dopped back to pass 52 times Friday night. He was sacked six times and dropped for a loss on an option play, resulting in an 11-carry for minus-23 yards.
When the Yellowjackets did try to run the ball, they were met by a Prowler defensive unit that pursued well and tackled well.
“Coach Kruse hammered home that our ends, Hams and Nelson, had to contain their quarterback – and they did a great job keeping him in the pocket,” Reynolds said. “Kruse also hammered home the importance of our drops into our zones. They picked on us some over the middle with slant routes, but we put Jaxson Tanner in at LB in the second half to help take that away, and it was effective for us. I though Bodhi Mossesstad played a great game. The final interception he had killed all hopes that Perham had at a comeback.”
Offensively, the Prowlers looked explosive early, with a 28-yard scoring run by Jackson Boyer and a 15-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Nelson to turn a pair of first quarter turnovers into points.
“On offense we did a good job of pounding the ball. The only time we struggled was when we either fumbled or got sacked,” Reynolds said. “Our offensive line really took control and allowed our running backs to pile up the yards.”
The Yellowjackets battled back with a pair of second quarter touchdowns. Gavin Griffin scored on an 18-yard pass by Blume and Trystan Larson scored on a one-yard run to briefly tie the game 14-14.
The Prowlers regained the lead on the ensuing kickoff as Jameson Hurst returned the kick 92 yards for a touchdown.
“Coach Shane Myhre has been working on that all this year,” Reynolds said of the big return. “He has shifted some guys around to find our most physical front nine guys to block. On our first kick off return, I got some feedback that some of the front nine weren’t blocking a soul. So I had Myhre sub in some guys – one of whom was sophomore Landen Larson – and that did the trick because they gave Hurst a seam and he hit it right up the middle. I think the last kickoff return for a TD we had was 2016. So we were due there.”
Zutz completed the two-point pass to Everett Nelson to give the Prowlers a 22-14 lead going into the half.
Perham kicked into the wind to start the second half and kicker Maddux Swentik got the ball to drop between the Prowlers up backs and its return men. The Yellowjackets recovered the loose ball at the Prowler 27-yard line. Five plays later, Larson found the end zone for the second time, with Blume passing to Ashton Detloff for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
The Prowlers responded with a pair of long drives – a 17-play, 65-yard scoring drive that took 9:33 off the clock and ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Gannon Zutz to Everett Nelson – and an eight-play, 55-yard drive that took 4:02 off the clock and ended with a four-yard touchdown-scoring run by Wyatt Nelson.
“I thought all three of our backs – Boyer, Nelson, and Hurst all ran the ball well,” Reynolds said. “We did have one fumble in the first half which gave Perham a chance to get back in the game, but I was pleased with how hard the guys ran the ball. Our young offensive line came of age that night and opened some great holes. Joey Bruggeman, Bradly Peters, Jace Maslowski, Brody Arlt, and Knute Hams – Those guys are finally putting things together. If our defensive line can make that same type of progress now, we will be in good shape against a very tough Fergus Falls team.”
Zutz had an efficient night throwing the ball, going six-for-seven, for 51 yards and a touchdown.
“Gannon read their defense well,” Reynolds said. “He took a shot on one quarterback keep, but he bounced up and was back at it. He did an excellent job running the offense and reading Perham’s defense. Our offensive line gave him time to find Nelson. It also helped that we ran the ball so well that it often left Nelson wide open. That is how the passing game in the Power T is supposed to work. I think that is one reason Nelson was open on those plays all the time. Plus, he uses his basketball skills well to snatch the ball out of the air.”
“I also want to highlight the efforts of Jaxon Hams,” Reynolds said. “He dinged his hand up and dealt with cramps. But he gutted it out. At one point late in the game he was asking Coach Kruse to sub out, but Kruse just told him, “I don’t have anyone else. You’re a dog. Gut it out.” And Jaxon did. Same
with Wyatt Nelson. I think the only thing Wyatt didn’t play on was kickoff and kick return. Those two guys are excellent examples for the younger guys on how to work hard and grind it out.
Scoring
1 2 3 4 T
Perham 0 14 8 0 22
Thief River Falls 14 8 6 6 34
First Quarter
TRF – Jackson Boyer 28-yard run (run failed)
TRF – Wyatt Nelson 15-yard run (Gannon Zutz pass to Everett Nelson)
Second Quarter
Perham – Gavin Griffin 18-yard pass from Alex Blume (Maddux Swentik kick)
Perham – Trystan Larson 1-yard run (Swentik kick)
TRF – Jameson Hurst 92-yard kickoff return (Zutz pass to E. Nelson)
Third Quarter
Perham – Larson 3-yard run (Blume pass to Ashton Deltoff)
TRF – E. Nelson 4-yard pass from Zutz (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
TRF – W. Nelson 4-yard run (run failed)
Team Statistics
• First downs – Perham 15; TRF 18.
• Fumbles (total-lost) – Perham 2-2; TRF 2-2.
• Penalties (number-yards) – Perham 9-54; TRF 3-30.
• Punts (number-averge) – Perham 3-48.0; TRF 2-30.5.
• Rushing (attempts-yards) – Perham 21-9; TRF 43-190.
• Passing – Perham 22-for-42, 207 yards, 2 interceptions; TRF 6-for-7, 51 yards.
• Total yards – Perham 216; TRF 241.
Individuals
• Rushing – (Perham) Tryston Larson 5-22, 2 TD; Carsen Zeise: 3-7; Gavin Griffin: 2-3; Blume 11-(-23); (TRF) Wyatt Nelson 18-113, 2 TD; Jameson Hurst 14-50 (KO return TD); Jackson Boyer 4-38, TD; Ian Winter 2-2; Gabe Myhre 2-13; Gannon Zutz 3-2.
• Passing – (Perham) Alex Blume 21-for-41, 204 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions; Ashton Deltoff 0-for-1; (TRF) Gannon Zutz 6-for-7, 51 yards, touchdown.
• Receiving – (Perham) Tyrus Coudron: 5-57 yards; Ty Rooney 5-43 yards; Ashton Detloff 4-34; Gavin Griffin 3-37, TD; Tate Zacharias 3-33; (TRF) Everett Nelson 5-50; Jaxon Hams 1-1.
• Interceptions – Bodhi Mossestad 2.
Mid Northwest Red District
Division Overall
W L W L
Fergus Falls 5 0 6 0
Morris Area/C-A 5 0 6 0
DGF 3 2 3 3
Detroit Lakes 2 3 3 3
East Grand Forks 2 3 3 3
Thief River Falls 2 3 2 4
Little Falls 1 4 1 5
Perham 0 5 1 5
• Results Week 6 – Thief River Falls 34, Perham 22; Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 24, East Grand Forks 0; Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 35, Detroit Lakes 9; Fergus Falls 42, Little Falls 14.
• Upcoming games – East Grand Forks at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton; Detroit Lakes at Little Falls; Thief River Falls at Fergus Falls; Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at Perham.