PARK RIVER (NewsDakota)- The old saying is that you cannot win a game in the first quarter, but you can certainly lose it in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Carrington Cardinals, they learned this the hard way on Friday night.

Tucker Omdahl returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, Brennan Schramm added a 50 yard touchdown run in the first, and the fourth-ranked Park River Area Aggies beat the Cards 18-8 on a soggy Friday night in Park River.

After the touchdowns by Omdahl and Schramm, the defense settled and while the offense got as close as the 26-yard line in the first half, they could get no closer and it was 12-0 at the half.

But Carrington (1-4, 0-3) responded in the third and after a drive stalled at the Aggies’ three yard line, the defense forced a three-and-out then blocked the ensuing punt through the end zone for a safety and it was 12-2.  It would stay that way until Wyatt Carlson’s pass was picked off by Tate Wolsky and returned for a touchdown with 2:40 left, and it was 12-8.

But the unbeaten Pirates (5-0, 3-0) responded immediately, with Omdahl racing down the left sideline for a 51 yard touchdown to set the final score as the Cardinals dropped their third straight.

Carrington are back in action Friday night, hosting Turtle Mountain (0-5, 0-3) for homecoming with coverage beginning at 6pm on KDAK The Cardinal and the KDAK The Cardinal YouTube channel.