Oakes, ND (NewsDakota.com) – There was a 4-way tie for the top spot of Region 1 entering play on Friday. The only teams to play eachother from that group were the Oakes Tornadoes and Northern Cass Jaguars. The winner would likely end up in a 3-way tie while the loser could end up on the outside looking in on playoff spots.
The game started with punts galore in the 1st quarter as neither team could get any traction on offense. The quarter would end 0-0. The 2nd quarter however saw the Jaguars complete a long drive down the field culminating in a 3 yard touchdown run by Myles Froehlich to make it 7-0 with 10:14 left in the half. They would trad possessions and once again the Jaguars would find themselves deep in Oakes territory before Landon Titus would intercept Hudson Rietschel with 4:09 left to give Oakes life. Beau Thorpe would then find Zade Heier for a 50 yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7 with 2:16 left. Northern Cass would go into a 2 minute drill and quickly and efficiently march down the field where Rietschel would connect with Parker Zieske for a 26 yard touchdown pass making it 13-7 after the missed extra point with only 44 seconds left. Oakes would attempt a drive but run out of time at the Jaguar 35 yard line.
The 2nd half started with an Oakes quick 3 and out before the Jaguars marched down the field again getting all the way to the goal line when a fumble would result in Oakes ball at the 3 yard line. Oakes would then get at least 5 penalties on the next drive and were unable to make it past the ten before punting it away giving NC excellent field position. The Jaguars would quickly score on an 18 yard touchdown pass to Brooks Crockett making it 19-7 with 3:15 left. On the ensuing drive Thorpe would be forced to scramble out of the pocket and fumble the ball with the Jaguars recovering. Rietschel would then connect on the next play for a 14 yard touchdown pass to Hunter Kemmet making it 25-7 with 2:12 left in the quarter. The rest of the game saw the Jaguar defense coming up with big stops and Oakes unable to make anything happening turning the ball over on downs with around 4 to go in the game thus ensuring a Northern Cass victory.
With the win the Jaguars stay in a 3 way tie for the top spot in the region with a 4-1 in region record. They are tied with EEK and Lisbon. Oakes drops to 4th place entering a tie with Hillsboro/CV with a 3-2 region record. Oakes has tie-breakers on HCV while Lisbon and NC have tie-breakers on them.
The Bank North Player of the Game was Nathan Schmitz.
Next up for the Tornadoes is Valley City on Friday October 10th in Valley City. The Full 9 Yards with Ricky and BJ will get coverage started at 6:00 PM. Jerry Edwards has the call with Pregame around 6:30 PM on KDDR The Tornado. You can also catch the game on the KOVC Live YouTube page.