October 1 1, 2021
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The Star
Page 1.1
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SPORTS
Rolla junior Morgan Leas records a dig while her teammate‘
and fellow junior, Hanah Neameyer, looks on.
Rolla netters
earn t0urney
championship
By John Ro‘sinski
. Of The Star
After nearly 12 hours of volley-‘ '
ball, the Rolla Bulldogs were the last
team standing at their home tourna-
ment last Saturday.
The Bulldogs outlasted a field of
ten teams on their way to winning
the championship.
Rolla started the day at 9 a.m.
against Turtle Mountain and came
away with a 2-0 win.
Rolla also earned either a win or a
split against Surrey, Dunseith and
Newburg-Westhope.
n Rolla accumulated enough points
"in pool play to earn the number one
seed going into the championship
tournament round.
Rolla took on Nelson County for
a chance to get into the champi-
onship. After cruisingto a win in the
first game, the Bulldogs stumbled .
and lost to the Chargers, setting up a
winner take all third game.
The Bulldogs took control of the
deciding game early and advanced to
the final.
Karesse Heinzidigs up a kill during Rolette's match up against
Dunseith.
Rolla met up with Bottineau in
the championship and didnit need a
third set, winning the match in two
straight games.
St. John also enjoyed a successful
tournament. Wins have been hard to
come by for the youthful Wood—
. chucks but St. John managed to. ad.- ,g
vance through pool play and all the
way to the final four. '
St. John outlasted Newburg-West—.
hope in three games to' advance to
the semi-round where they were
eventually tripped up by Bottineau.
The Rolette Comets opened their
week at home taking on Drake-
Anamoose.
The visiting Lady Raiders had lit-
tle trouble in the match, winning
three straight games by scores of 25—
13, 25-10 and 25—11.
Sierra Heinz and Hailey Peltier
recorded thee kills each for Rolette.
J odee Fritel added eight assists and '
an ace and Sierra Heinz led the
Comets efforts on defense with 15
Championship
(Continued on Page 12)
new
By John Rosinski
Of The Star
The St. John Woodchucks foot-
ball teampwill roll into this week's
home playoff game with a wave a
momentum.
For the second week in a row the
Woodchucks got the offense going
in a big way in the second half as
they cruised by North‘ Star, 56-22.
The hometown Bearcats grabbed
an early lead following an intercep-
tion but St. John responded. The
'Chucks got a 61-yard scOre by Tuff
Longie to tie the game at 8.
Longie added a 25-yard score
early in the second quarter but the
Bearcats answered and thanks to a
successful two-point conversion, en-
joyed a 16—14 lead at halftime.
St. John‘s defense helped jump-
start the scoring in the second half
with Caden Belgarde recovering a
fumble. ” ,
St. John came up with an inter-
ception on the next possession for
another score and a 26—16 lead.
Zavier Parisien tacked on tWo
scores later in the quarter with runs
of five and six yards and in the span
of only 12 minutes, St. John scored
28 points to take command of the
game.
Parisien and Longie each added
another score in the fourth as the
'Chucks locked up their fifth win of
the year.
St. John finished the regular sea—
son with 5-3 record, including 3-1
in the region. .The ‘Chucks will have
an opportunity to host a playoff
game this Saturday against Four
‘Winds-Minnewaukanf The two
{teams met earlier in the year with St.
John getting the win.
The winner of the game will ad—'
vance to the round‘ of 16 to take on
Nelson County.
St. John Head Coach Cory Davis
said the game against North Star was
a good primer for the playoffs be—
cause the Bearcats like to throw the
ball around, much like FW—M.
“This will be a different Four
.Winds team than when we played
them the second week of the sea-
son," Davis said. "Their line has im-
proved up front and they've been
playing goodfootball. It‘s do or die
.t'ime now."
. Davis credited his team‘s overall
hefense for helping to lock up the
North Prairie quarterback Nicholas Mears looks to pitch the
ball to a teammate in the cougars loss to Bottineau. '
‘ ougars take it on the chin
By John Rosinski
Of The Star
A week after losing a thrilling
game in the closing seconds, the
North Prairie Cougar game on Fri-
day wasn’t nearly as close or excit—
ing. ,
NP took it on the chin last week,
losing to Bottineau 50—14. The
Braves came into the game unde-
feated and never had their perfect
record threatened in a game that was
out of reach early.
The Braves secured the opening
kickoff at the 29-yard line and
needed only one passing play to
torch the Cougar defense for a-
touchdown.
It only got worse after that for the
Cougars. '
NP’s offense didn’t manage a first
down on the ensuing drive and al~
though it took the Braves a few plays
to score, the hometown team quickly
locked down a 16—0 advantage mid-
way through the first quarter.
A fumble derailed NP’s next pos-
session and Bottineau answered with
another quick score.
‘ In almost the blink of an eye, NP
was staring down a 24-0 deficit. It
was another struggling quarter for
Caden Belgarde brings down a North Star ball carrierin St.
‘ Sizzling "St.John' gears up far playoffs
“g... I.
John’s victory over the Bearcats, (Photo by'Lavonne Haugen)
win over the Bearcats.
"We had a really good game de-
fensively and we had some success
moving the ball offensively too. Our
line played well and that's what
’we're going to need to have this
week if we want a chance to be suc~
cessful."
North Prairie junior Mitchell L'eas tries to find some daylight in
his team’s game against Bottineau.
the leaking Cougar defense. Com-
bined with the 32 points surrendered
in the fourth quarter of their previ-
ous game, NP was on the hook for
56 points in successive quarters.
The Cougars responded with their
only sustained drive of the first half.
A two-yard run by Blake Mattson
put,NP on the Scoreboard, but the
score would get no closer.
Another pair of Braves touch- I
downs sandwiched around another
lost Cougar fumble spelled the end
of the night for NP.
Both teams junior varsity played
extensively in the second half, which
featured a running clock.
NP finished the regular season
with a 5—3 recordnThe team will hit
the road this Saturday to take on
New Rockford-Sheyenne in the
opening round of the‘ 2021 playoffs.
The two teams met in the very first
week of the season with the Cougars
earning a victory. The game was
played in monsoon~type conditions,
with heavy rain and wind marring
the ability of both teams to really
gauge how they matched up with
each other. '
. The winner of the game will play
in Bottineau the following Saturday.
Dragons end season on high note
By John Rosinski
Of The Star
The Dunseith Dragons football
season didn‘t go, like the players
and coaches would have wanted,
but the team ended the year on a
positive note.
The Dragons hosted Towner-
Granvill—Upham on Friday. Both
teams came into the game elimi-
nated from postseason contention
but the Dragons shook that disap—
point off to come away with a 50—
26 triumph.
Dunseith led wire-to-wire.
Jacob Thiefoe struck for the first of
his two touchdowns on the first
play from scrimmage, scoring on
26—yard touchdown.
Thiefoe was also a force defen-
sively for the Dragons, racking up
three sacks throughout the game.
' Dunseith also got a big game
from seniors Ethan Morin and
Chad Parisien, who combined for
four scores.
"We played together as a team
for the entire 48 minutes," Head
Coach Wally DeCoteau said. "We
have a good group of kids coming
up and are excited for the future."
DeCoteau said the biggest rea-
son for his excitement is despite
losing some talented seniors, the
programs junior varsity enjoyed an
undefeated season.
The Dragons finished the year
with a 2-6 record and a fourth
place finish in the regional stand-
ings. |
