McKenzie County Farmer - Sports

Titus Stenberg
Farmer Sports Writer

The regular season for Watford City football came to an end last Friday night, with a matchup of playoff teams from the AA West. No. 3 Devils Lake defeated the Wolves 43-36 to improve to 7-2 and lock up the No. 2 seed from the West for the AA Playoffs. The loss dropped Watford City to a record of 4-5 and they earned the West’s No. 4 seed.

“We had two goals,” said Watford City head coach, Jim Dooley. “To play well against a highly ranked opponent and to win. We accomplished one. Our message was: ‘We went toe-to-toe with the No. 3 team in the state and proved we belong in the playoffs.”

At the 3:20 mark of the first quarter, Rhylie Ledahl-Berger got the scoring started with a three-yard touchdown run after he put the Wolves in position with a 58-yard run earlier in the drive. Devils Lake responded on their next drive, scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run by Bryar Exner to complete a 59-yard drive. The Firebirds scored the first two touchdowns of the second quarter with a one-yard run by Mason Palmer and a 30-yard run by Exner. Two more extra point kicks from Palmer helped build the 21-6 Devils Lake lead. Ledahl-Berger scored an important touchdown with five seconds left before halftime, his second three-yard touchdown run of the game. The Wolves’ two-point conversion attempt failed, continuing an unfortunate trend for the Wolves.

The Wolves got the ball to start the second half and Ledahl-Berger picked up right where he left off with a 69-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter. With a 21-18 lead, Devils Lake scored with a 14-yard pass from Mason Palmer to Max Palmer. Mason’s extra point made it 28-18 with 9:10 remaining in the third. Trysten DeVries got the Wolves back to within one score when he capped off a 71-yard, five-minute drive with a 16-yard touchdown run.

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