October 7, 2014

Wolves have no answer to dominating Saints

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Bismarck St. Mary’s showed why they are the No. 1 team in Class AA football on Friday as the Saints rolled over the Wolves, 41-0, to put a damper on Watford City’s Homecoming.
The Saints, who handed Watford City its second loss of the season, dominated the game offensively as Bismarck rolled to 339 total yards, while holding the Wolves to just a meager 90 yards.
“We played a very good football team on Friday,” stated Justin Johnsrud, Wolves’ head coach. “St. Mary’s is the number one ranked team in AA and they showed why. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and we struggled to get anything going offensively. Turnovers and miscues on our part gave them a short field for much of the first half. And they took advantage of it.”
Watford City had four costly turnovers in the game as the Wolves lost three fumbles to the Saints and gave up one interception.
Bismarck scored twice in the first quarter and then scored once in the second quarter to hold a 21-0 halftime lead. Watford City failed to sustain any offense in the second half as the Saints scored twice in the third quarter and then completed the shutout with a final touchdown in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 41-0 win.
For the game, the Saints carried the ball 57 times for 315 yards, while the Wolves ran 25 plays for 64 yards. In the air, Watford City held a slim advantage as Keegan Thompson completed two passes for  26 yards, while the Saints gained 24 yards on two completions.
Bismarck ended the game with 23 first downs, while the Wolves had four.
Thompson led the Wolves in offense as he picked up 61 yards on nine carries, while Brenden Leaming had two receptions for 26 yards.
Dalton Wright and Clay Jorgenson led Watford City’s defense with seven tackles each.
“We will travel to Belcourt this Friday. Belcourt likes to spread the field and throw the ball, so our pass defense will need to be in top form,” states Johnsrud. “We have three games left in our season, and we need to win two of the final three regular season games to make the playoffs. We will continue to work hard in practice and improve on both sides of the ball.”
                        1st    2nd      3rd       4th      Final
Bismarck       14      7        12          8         41
Watford City    0       0          0          0          0


Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Keegan Thompson, 9-61 yards; Kyle Cook, 2-5 yards; Brandon Sandvik, 7-4 yards; Daniel Marmon, 4-minus 1 yard; Dalton Wright, 3-minus 5 yards.
Passing: Keegan Thompson, 2-6 for 26 yards.
Receiving: Brenden Leaming, 2-26 yards.r the school.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER