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(NewsDakota.com) The Oakes High School Football team’s focus coming into the 2014 season was attempting to run the ball more often than in previous years.  

On Friday night in Hillsboro, the Tornado ground game raked up more than plenty of yardage in a 34-24 victory over Hillsboro/Central Valley. Running back Erik Loepp had  three touchdowns and amassed 193 yards rushing, while quarterback Bryce Meehl finished with 102 yards on the ground. Loepp’s scores came from 36, 12 and 6 yards out.

Hillsboro/Central Valley made it a game late, scoring on a 19 yard touchdown pass with 7:29 remaining to cut the deficit to 10, but Oakes’ defense didn’t allow another score.

Oakes now stands at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in Class A Region I, while HCV is now 3-2 overall and 2-2 in Region I. The Tornadoes, ranked #2 in Class A football, head to Steele on Friday, October 3 to battle Kidder County. Coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. on KDDR-AM 1220/95.9 FM and NewsDakota.com with kickoff at 7.