October 20, 2014 .... The Star Page 11
SPORTS
Braves clip Blue Jays for first win
By John Rosinski
Of The Star
It could have been easy for the Belcourt Braves'
football team to shut it down after they fell behind
8-0 in their road game against Stanley-Powers
Lake on Saturday.
After all, the Braves have endured a challeng-
ing year on multiple fronts. In addition to being a
young team at several key positions, they have
also had some players who were expected to con-
tribute miss significant time with various injuries.
They also came into the game with a 0-7 record.
But to the Braves' credit, they shook off the
early deficit, regrouped and were eventually re-
warded with a 22-14 triumph.
The 22 points were a season high for the Braves
and the bulk of them came in the second quarter.
Belcourt's first score came courtesy of the de-
fense. Like he has done all season, Brandon Ro-
driguez was in the right place to make a big play.
After the defense forced a fumble, Rodriguez cor-
ralled the loose ball and rumbled home for a 17-
yard score. After scoring the touchdown,
Rodriguez capped it off by converting the two-
point conversion.
With just over a minute to play in the half, Ro-
driguez found the money a second time, scoring
on a four-yard run.
For the first time all season, the Braves enjoyed
a halftime lead of 14-6.
Neither team scored in the third quarter but
early in the fourth, Colten Birkland hauled in a 33-
yard pass from quarterback Stacy Davis for what
proved to be the game-winning score. Austin
Thomas added the two-point conversion.
S-PL added a score with just under two minutes
to play, but would not get a miracle finish.
Rodriguez ended his big day with 17 carries for
71 yards.
The Braves are set to close out their regular sea-
son this Friday when they host Griggs-Barnes
County.
Polar Bears freeze out Cougars in second half
By Jason Nordmark
Of The Star
North Prairie went toe-to-toe with
the two-time regional champs Satur-
day afternoon in Rolette.
At the end of a wild first half, the
Cougars were tied with Larimore 13-
13 in a game featuring big hits on de-
fense and a school-yard offense.
At the end of the second half,
however, the Polar Bears were the
three-time regional champs after put-
ting up 29 unanswered points.
The 42-13 final wasn't indicative
of what was a monumental match up
for 36 minutes. In fact, one could say
Larimore was lucky to get out of
town with the win.
The prospect of facing a formida-
ble Larimore run defense motivated
an offensive switch for the Cougars.
Instead of feeding the Bears a steady
diet of Sean Soukup, Taylor Scott
and T.J. Martin, North Prairie loaded
up a run-and=gun offense from the
start.
The strategy allowed the Cougars
to slice through the Bears like they
were deli meat. The first drive took
just a few minutes and featured five-
receiver sets. Quarterback Jalen
Pfeifer had time to pin point his tar-
gets and settled on Martin for a three-
yard score to open the game.
North Prairie's defense also an-
swered the bell with intensity. Lari-
more's misdirection offense was
thrown off kilter by the Cougars' one
direction defense. That direction was,
forward and down onto the turf.
Senior Ryan Gailfus was a major
pain for nearly every Polar Bear who
touched the ball. Lineman Karson
Schoening stymied Larimore's
chances of running up the gut and the
North Prairie secondary shut down
the passing game.
The home-team's strategy was
working early, but with the school-
yard offense comes inherent risks
and the increased chance of a missed
receiver. That's how Larimore got on
the board first, with a pick-six by
their all-region senior Jake Peterson.
The Polar Bears struck again in
the first quarter when one of those
misdirection plays finally broke
through and Rocye Verkuehlen took
off for 42 yards.
The Cougars answered with more
passing. A Pfeifer pass glided into the
outstretched arms of Soukup for a
44-yard strike to tie the game at 13-
13 after one quarter of play.
The second quarter will haunt the
Cougars for quite a while. Two
times, on two sustained drives, North
Prairie moved right through the reel-
ing Polar Bear defense.
Both of those drives ended in
fumbles inside the 10-yard line and
instead up being up two scores,
North Prairie went into the halftime
huddle on an even keel with region's
top team.
For most of the first half and for
unknown reasons, Larimore kept its
primary weapon in the holster. Peter-
son did have a touchdown, but it was
on defense. He carried the ball a few
times, but did not consistently get the
rock.
That all changed in the second
hall It started when Peterson picked
off a Pfeifer pass early in the third
quarter. That led to quarterback
Jacob Tupa hitting Peterson on a
short crossing route that turned into a
43-yard score and a 19-13 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, Peter-
son found a chink in the Cougar
armor and took off for a 50-yard
scoring run.
Meanwhile, the North Prairie of-
fense went cold. They reverted to the
run to start the half, but the five-re-
ceiver set returned after the Polar
Bears took the lead.
Larimore's defense was expecting
the aerial assault and brought the
pressure on Pfeifer, who did well to
scramble away. •Most of the sacks
were due to the uptick in pass cover-
age on the part of the Polar Bears.
Larimore added two more touch-
downs in the fourth to seal the team's
Cougars
(Continued on Page 13)
Above: North Prairie's Riley Richard (50) forces Larimore quarterback Jacob Tupa to get rid of
the ball off his back foot during Saturday afternoon's match up. Below: With a contingent of fans
and teammates cheering him on, Brody Cahill (2) takes off for a big gain after a side line catch.
Dunseith's Brendon Nerpel went up high to block a Honker
pass attempt as his teammate, Josh Nadeau also closed in on
the quarterback.
Dunseith goes bonkers
Honkers
By John Rosinski
Of The Star
The Dunseith Dragons capped off their 2014 football season with twice as
many wins as the year before.
The Dragons hosted Kenmare-Bowbells-Burke Central in the final game
of the season last Saturday, and earned a 22-14 victory. The win was the
fourth for the Dragons this season after winning two games last year, and not
even fielding a varsity team in 2012.
The Dragons' defense proved to be the difference maker in their triumph.
Dunseith's defense opened the game by picking up an interception, added
three more turnovers throughout the game and ended things with a thunder-
Bonkers
(Continued on Page 12)
St. John's Kylene Martell tries to block a point attempt by the
Comets' Lynnsey Salubaugh.
Comets continue to shine
By John Rosinski
Of The Star
It was another successful week
for the Rolette-Wolford volleyball
team. The Comets played two
matches and won them both without
losing a single game.
On Tuesday the Comets wel-
comed St. John, and fought off a
spirited effort by the 'Chucks to pick
up the win, 25-13, 25-14 and 25-11.
R-W took a commanding 15-6 lead
in the first game before St. John
mounted a small rally midway through
the contest. The Comets managed to
keep things under control and won the
game on a Kinze Martinson ace.
The second game was close for
the first 15 points but after a slow
start, the Comets raced to the win.
St. John only trailed 8-10 in the
early going, but a pair of net viola-
tions and a Comet ace stretched the
deficit to 8-14.
After a St. John point, the
Comets' Lexy Wittmayer recorded
one of her match-high 19 kills to re-
gain control of the match.
St. John continued to battle, how-
Volleyball
(Continued on Page 12)
