October 10, 2012

Wolves close out regular season play at New Town

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

After battling back from a halftime deficit, Watford City’s defense couldn’t keep Williams County out of the end zone in the fourth quarter as the Wolves fell to the Firestorm, 28-26, last Friday in a Region III matchup.
While the loss was disappointing to Fred Fridley, Wolves’ head coach, he said that Watford City will still probably end up as the No. 2 seed from the region and will have a home field advantage in the first playoff game in two weeks.
“If Stanley defeats Williams County and we beat New Town on Friday, the Wolves will be the second seed from Region III,” stated Fridley. And that seeding will guarantee that Watford City will have the home field advantage in the first playoff game.
Against Williams County, the Wolves got on the scoreboard first as Watford City scored on its opening drive with Keegan Thompson scampering into the end zone on a one-yard run.
Williams County then picked off a pass on Watford City’s next possession and turned the miscue into a touchdown to deadlock the game at 6-6 at the end of the first quarter.
The Firestorm then tacked on another touchdown in the second quarter when they recovered a punt that was deflected off a Wolves’ player deep in Watford City territory.
Watford came back with Daniel Marmon scoring on a 20-yard reverse to tie the score 12-12, but Williams County answered back with their second touchdown of the quarter to lead 20-12 at halftime.  
In the third quarter, Austin Garmann scored on a 10-yard run to close the gap to 20-18 after three quarters.
The Wolves would go ahead with just over four minutes in the game when Josh Rolfsrud capped off a scoring drive with a three-yard run. Rolfsrud then scored on a two-point conversion to put the Wolves on top 26-20. But with two minutes left in the game, Williams County came back to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to seal the 28-26 win.
“We played better in the second half,” stated Fridley. “But two turnovers, as well as costly missed tackles, were our downfall.”
The bright spot for Fridley was the big improvement he saw in Watford City’s running game.
“Our running game was as good as it has been,” stated Fridley. “Rolfsrud netted 135 yards on 27 carries and Austin Garmann ran for 100 yards on 16 carries.”
The Wolves will be on the road Friday as they close out their regular season play when Watford City takes on New Town at 7 p.m.
“The Eagles have one of their best teams in years,” says Fridley. “And we need to come out and play better on both sides of the ball.”

WATFORD CITY WEATHER