November 6, 2013

Wolves football season ends with quarterfinal loss

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Fargo Shanley scored three touchdowns in the first quarter as the Deacons rolled over the Watford City Wolves, 34-2, in the quarterfinals of the Class AA football playoffs on Saturday. With the loss, the Wolves ended their season with a 6-4 record.
“Their passing game really was the big difference in the game,” stated Wolves’ Head Coach Fred Fridley. “They found the places where they could take advantage of us and they did a good job of that.”
Watford City’s defense did a great job of containing Shanley’s running game, holding the Deacons to just 52 yards rushing on 20 attempts. But the Wolves could not shut down Shanley’s air attack. Shanley completed 12 of 15 passes for 180 yards, including two touchdowns.
Offensively, the Wolves did a nice job of rushing the football as Watford City picked up 144 yards on 52 attempts, but were unable to find the end zone.
Brandon Allex led the way for the Wolves as he picked up 96 yards on 29 carries.
 The Wolves’ best chance to score a touchdown came in the second quarter. However, Shanley’s defense stopped the Wolves on three straight attempts from the one-yard line.
Watford City’s only score came four plays later when Watford City blocked a Shanley punt out of the end zone for their only points, which cut the Deacons’ lead to 20-2 with 6:25 to play in the second quarter.
According to Fridley, poor field position hurt the Wolves throughout the game.
“We failed to field a couple of kickoffs and it helped Shanley get better field position,” stated Fridley. “On the average, we started most drives inside our 20-yard line, whereas Shanley started their drives near the 40-yard line.”
“I felt our team played hard and I am really proud of the effort they had Saturday,” stated Fridley. “The special teams and a couple turnovers really hurt our chances.”
While this season is over for the Wolves, Fridley is already looking forward to next year.
“We had a young team and next year looks very promising,” states Fridley.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER