Sep 24, 2023

Test of the Best

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Your long-time rival has the lead but you have the ball and the chance to at least tie them.

It's one of the scenarios that is played-out mentally over and over and over again by competitors in all sports through so many of the age brackets.

In their visit to North High Friday evening it was exactly what the Bruins faced but the conclusion is just part of the story

Here's the rest

In front of the homecoming crowd and with all the various strings attached it maybe shouldn't have come as a surprise that each team would get off to a slow start. Nobody told Damarion Semanko though, as he nearly went the distance with the opening kickoff!

On their second chance with the ball South got themselves into field goal range and were able to capitalize on the opportunity. In a display of 'anything you can do...' North answered on the ensuing possession as Ethan Welk ran-in the first touchdown with just under five minutes left in the opening quarter.

They wouldn't get the ball back until more than two minutes of the second had been worked off the clock. The seven-minute possession finished with the Bears still down one point as Keaton Docken went 2/2. South kept the momentum going in their direction, forcing a pair of third & longs - the second of which became a fourth & punt. Semanko & Dorian Sandness continued the churn, chewing up turf & time until Sandness found himself in the end zone!

That poke by the Bears proved to be the wake-up call for the Spartans monster as Peder Haugo had all three positive plays, concluding them with a 60-yard touchdown run!

Adam Roland's bunch made it a 1-2 combination as they recovered the ensuing kickoff but it would remain a 14 - 13 game as the Bruins defense forced a turnover-on-downs with seconds left.

The Spartans were no more successful in landing the staggering blow when play resumed which opend the door for South to regain the lead. As the North defense continued to key on Semanko, Brevin Wark connected with Duwayne Mitchell for a 57-yard score and Reis Kessel for the two point conversion.

But as with the previous instance, the Haugo had something to say about his team being behind. The next statement was a first-play, 65-yard charge to make it even at 21! A sack by Joe Rose precipitated a punt and then came Haugo again, on the second play, for 62.

He's a man amongst boys on the field and NDSU should really think about giving him some opportunities both ways, but that's beside the point. With his third touchdown the Spartans were back in the lead 28 - 21.

It looked like South was going to cook up their own response as they drained the rest of the third quarter and got back into field goal range only to have the chance washed away by a fumble.

Haugo & Jim Miller helped control the time going by but fumbilitis proved to be contagious, with Kessel corralling the pig skin to set up the game-defining scenario!

From mid-field, the Wark-lead offense overcame a pair of sacks and got to the 11. It took all four downs but the quarterback answered the ball, getting the ball to Mitchell again to make it 28 - 27 with 71 ticks remaining.

In the world of hypotheticals and second-guessing, perhaps taking the surer-thing would be decided as the right answer. But with nothing on the line except for some pride & maybe a spot or two in the state rankings, Tyler Kosel decided to go for the win in regulation. It's the sort of choice that takes a game from being great to being a classic.

In the original rivalry for Fargo, that's not easy to do, but the two Dakota Bowl hopefuls achieved just that as they tested each other to the maximum!