The ball floated through the air. From the quarterback's hand it flew downfield and toward the sideline. In the blink of an eye the spot where it was going went from being absent a body from either team to having a player jump in and pick the ball out of the the air. Then, after securing the ball, #10 was off and running. He navigated through the 21 other players on the field, toward the opposite sideline and into the open field where no one would catch him.
The crux of the event? The pass was thrown by Dane Carlson in white while Ty Satter was clad in crimson. It was an early backbreaker for the Braves but there's a lot to get to before that score hit the board.
Bison fans who have been tuned in since the turn of the decade are familiar with one of the most impressive drives in college Football history. When NDSU was playing Kansas State Brock Jensen lead the Bison on a fourth quarter drive that consumed most of the fourth quarter clock & secured a high profile victory for the Green & Gold. In similar fashion, the Davies Eagles started their second season. They started with the ball and methodically moved down the field, running nearly 9 minutes off the clock to get the first points of the game.
After the Brett Vetter 2 yard score, Mandan took over and would have given anything to put together a similar drive. All they could manage was a three & out that ate two minutes of game time. It wasn't enough.
On the first play of their second drive quarterback Jesse Forknell pulled the ball down, rolled to his left and after finding enough space, he just kept running. 69 yards to put his team up 14-0.
Now in the vice grip, the Braves had to start throwing the ball just to try and keep up. Which brings us to the pick six by Satter. 21-0. 21 points in under 3.5 minutes.
The lighter fluid burned off for Davies into the second quarter but even then their defense held Mandan to short possessions and punts. Halfway through the second quarter, the Eagles got the ball back & showed that they were more than a flash in the pan. After a field flipping catch and run by Jaden Klabo, Davies was back in the redzone. Then on the four yard line, Forknell handed the ball off to Vetter and he squeezed through for another six ticks.
The stifling defense of Davies forced another short possession by Mandan. So after the turnover on downs, Forknell took over again with a mere 36 yards of Bruin turf between his team and another touchdown. It took all of two plays before one of the starts of the night showed up again. From 34 yards out Ty Satter secured the handoff and practically walked in for his second score of the night.
With two minutes and 11 seconds to go in the half it was as much about just getting to halftime as it was trying to put up some points for Mandan. Their two last possessions of the half didn't accomplish either goal.
A second straight turnover on downs was the last thing that the guest's from the West wanted but it lead to their first highlight of the night. With the time running out, Jesse Forknell dropped back for a shot into the end zone from 25 yards away but Brad Treiber had other ideas in mind to close out the rough half for his team. After hauling in the interception, he took a knee and his team got the final chance with the ball but opted to burn the time.
The smaller glimmer of positivity produced by Treiber was quickly washed away. Another short possession to open the second half.
Davies wanted more insurance before calling off the dogs. They made one long pass play to Grayson Haman but otherwise looked to take the air of the ball through a decisive strategy of handoffs. With the nose of the Football on the 20 it was another handoff to Brett Vetter that gave the coaches the points they wanted. 42-0 and a running clock the rest of the way.
The only stoppage of the game clock the rest of the way was for turnovers. So it stopped briefly for Mandan to get set. One play into it moving again and it was stopped again. This time it was Zach Mitzel who jumped the route. And so the fourth quarter came on running after punts by each team.
In the fourth quarter the Braves evened the turnover margin with a fumble recovery at the 21. Against a host of backups Mandan finally took advantage of the opportunity. Big Elijah Klein used every bit of his 6'7" frame to make a Randy Moss like catch over Tristin Winn, which you can see in the photo gallery, to get his team inside the 10. Jackson Zittleman did the rest and the shutout was off the board. 6:09 to go, but that was the wrap on the game. Each team held the ball once more but nothing came of either possession.
So all that the Eagles get for their dominance at Fargo South is a date with the odds on favorite to win this year's championship - undefeated Bismarck High. If they play on Friday like they did last night, they could pull the upset. It could happen but they will have to play that well. If they stumble, they may well find themselves on the wrong end of a blowout. But for one night they could celebrate. They're still alive for a trip to the Fargodome!
Player of the Game
Jesse Forknell & Ty Satter both played well enough to be considered for PotG.
But with three touchdowns on the evening, it's a rather easy call
Brett Vetter
Photo of the Game
