Wolves defense shuts down Stanley
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City’s defense completely shut down Stanley’s offense as the Wolves picked up their third straight win of the season with a 26-8 win over the Blue Jays on Friday.
It was the defense’s turn to shine as Watford City held Stanley to just 26 yards in the Homecoming win. While the Wolves’ defense was solid throughout the game, Watford City’s offense struggled in the game, especially in the first half as three turnovers by the Wolves gave Stanley its only score.
“Allowing Stanley only one first down was a great effort defensively,” stated Fred Fridley, Wolves head coach. “We ran off 67 plays to Stanley’s 29 offensive plays, which shows just how much the Wolves dominated the game.”
For the game, the Wolves rolled up 410 yards offensively, compared to just 26 yards for the Blue Jays.
Stanley’s only score came in the first quarter on an 80-yard interception to put the visitors ahead 8-0 after one quarter.
The Wolves tied the score in the second quarter on Keegan Thompson’s 23-yard run and a two-point conversion run by Brandon Allex.
The Wolves would threaten late in the first half, but didn’t score with the game remaining tied, 8-8, at halftime.
But the Wolves would score twice in the third quarter on runs by Thompson and Allex to put the Wolves ahead, 20-6, after three quarters, and would break the game wide open.
Thompson would score his third touchdown of the game on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach and give the Wolves a 26-8 victory.
“We really hurt ourselves the first half with fumbles and a couple of big penalties,” stated Fridley. “The second half was much better as we executed much better offensively and were able to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage.”
The Wolves ran the ball 31 times in the second half while Stanley had only 10 running plays.
This week, the Wolves will travel to Griggs County on Saturday, Sept. 21 for a 2 p.m. game.
“Griggs County beat Dickinson Trinity last week and had a big game running the football,” stated Fridley. “We will need to stop their running game as they run from the full house and I formation. It is a long trip and we need to continue to get better.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Stanley 8 0 0 0 8
Watford City 0 8 12 6 26