September 19, 2012

Wolves hold on for 14-7 win over Velva

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

With a 14-7 win over Velva, Watford City moved one step closer, not only to making the Class A football playoff this year, but also having a chance to have home-field advantage. The win kept the Wolves tied with Stanley for the top spot in Region III with both teams having 3-0 records.
“I thought we played very well tonight on both sides of the ball,” stated Fred Fridley, Wolves’ head coach. “We still need to get better, but I see improvement with each game. We still have four region games to go and three of those are on the road.”
The Wolves picked up their Homecoming win with its defense again putting the offense in good field position to score.
Davis Zubke helped set up Watford City’s first score when he recovered a Velva fumble on the Aggies’ first play from scrimmage after the opening kickoff. From there, the Wolves moved the ball down the field with Josh Rolfsrud running in from nine yards out with 10:23 left in the opening quarter. The extra point was missed, which gave Watford City a 6-0 lead.
Velva came back to score their only touchdown of the game with 5:11 left in the first quarter to put the Aggies up 7-6 after one quarter.
But the Wolves would answer back with their second touchdown of the game with 9:07 left in the second quarter as Watford City quarterback Keegan Thompson scored on a quarterback sneak. Thompson connected with Daniel Marmon for the two-point conversion giving the Wolves a 14-7 lead that they would take into halftime.
The second half was a defensive battle with neither team scoring.
The Wolves had a couple of chances to get into the end zone in the second half, but came up short on two occasions when they were inside Velva’s 10-yard line.
The Aggies mounted one final drive late in the fourth quarter for a chance to win the game, but a key interception by Shane Jorgenson secured the Homecoming win for the Wolves.
The Aggies got good field position following a personal foul on a punt and then pushed the ball down the field. The Wolves had the Aggies stopped on fourth down, but another Watford City personal foul gave Velva a fresh set of downs with the goal line in sight, setting up Jorgenson’s huge defensive play.
“For the third straight game, our defense held our opponents to one  score or less and came up big in the fourth quarter,” stated Fridley.
The Wolves are on the road Friday when they will take on Garrison/Max at 7 p.m. in Garrison.
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Josh Rolfsrud, 24-115 yards; Keegan Thompson, 12-43 yards; Kolton Hall, 2-12 yards; Daniel Marmon, 5-12 yards; Austin Garmann, 2-4 yards.
Passing: Keegan Thompson, 2-4 for four yards.
Receiving: Daniel Marmon, 1-4 yards.
Fumble Recoveries: Davis Zubke, 1.
Interceptions: Shane Jorgenson, 1.
Defensive Points: Davis Zubke, 59; Dalton Wright, 53; Brandon Allex, 46; Shane Jorgenson, 46; Nate Egeberg, 35; Logan Fettig, 31; Beau Heiser, 30; Daniel Marmon, 26; Josh Rolfsrud, 26; Mitchell Liebel, 23; Tyler Bates, 20; Brice Brenno, 14; Cole Rolfsrud, 13; Andrew Sampsel, 10; Jaryn Homiston, 6.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER