Ellendale, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The #3 Seeded Ellendale-Edgeley/Kulm (EEK) Thunder hadn’t been out of the opening round of postseason play in 8 years. They took on the Grafton Spoilers in the opening round this year, a team who hasn’t been to the postseason since 2020 and a team they had never played before. They managed to not only beat but crunch the Spoilers by a final score of 46-6.
The game started out slow for both teams as both opening drives were quick three and outs. Grafton then put together a drive in which saw 2 intentional grounding penalties and a fake punt to get a first down. They would get into the redzone and inside the 10 before they took that 2nd intentional grounding penalty which put them at 3rd and goal from around the 20 which is where they’d turn the ball over on downs. EEK would march down the field. Without Ivan Carruth this week they went to Riggin Sand who helped get them into Grafton territory with Bennet Giesler getting them into the redzone before quarterback Drew Thorpe ran in from the 17 yard line to make it 6-0 with 3:30 left in the 1st quarter. The Spoilers would instantly respond on the next drive with Brody Lillemoen connecting with True Moberg in single coverage for a 78 yard touchdown catch and run to tie it at 6-6 with 2:48 left. Sand wouldn’t allow that to stand for long as he’d receive the ensuing kick off at his own 18 and return it all the way to give the Thunder the 12-6 lead with 2:37. That play seemed to take all the wind out of the Grafton sails. A minute later Lillemoen would fumble the ball as he was hit on a play out of the pocket with Seth Irey recovering. EEK would have the ball deep in Spoiler territory to end the quarter.
The Thunder would start off with 2 quick plays to get into the end zone this time with Sand running in from 16 yards out to make it 18-6 with 11:30 left. The Spoilers were unable to do much with the ball as the Thunder defense became extremely staunch and even blocked a punt in the quarter. The Thunder would score again after that blocked punt with Thorpe running it in from 4 yards out making it 26-6 with 3:28 left. He would run it in again from 4 yards again with 1:46 left to make it 32-6. The half would end with Brogan Young intercepting Lillemoen on a shot down field with :39 left.
The Thunder would get the ball to start the 2nd half and once again go on the march. Getting inside the 5 for Thorpe to once again run in from 3 yards out this time making it 39-6 with 9:20 left on the quarter. Thorpe would score one more time to make it 5 touchdowns on the day this time on a 1 yard dive play with 3:00 left to make it 46-6.
The 4th quarter saw mostly the back ups playing after Lillemoen was intercepted by CJ Gilbert right away at the start of the quarter in the EEK redzone. The Thunder would also intercept Christian O’Hara the freshman backup quarterback with Briggs Schlosser picking up the takeaway. The Thunder would win 46-6.
The Thunder have advanced out of the first round for the first time since 2017. This year they will take on Bottineau in the quarterfinals on Saturday November 1st in Ellendale time is at 2:00 PM. You can catch that game and the entirety of the Thunder’s postseason run on KDDR The Tornado.