On another final day of Football two teams that were finishing the season much better than they started met on the edge of the Red. The winner would leave the field know they won the back-half of their schedule, & a trophy as well.
Oak Grove got the first chance with the ball. They put together enough plays to convert a fourth down but the drive stalled afterward.
Northern Cass made good on the opening with a catch & run by Brock Carpenter to the five. Kolby VanderWal went the rest of the way for the first points of the afternoon.
In an effort to force the momentum back to their side, the Grovers dialed up trick play pass. The designed worked, up to the point that Jack Metzger came down with the ball - for the Jags.
Aided by a penalty, Oak Grove forced a punt and held the ball into the second quarter. The brief break helped the Grovers get settled, with the help of a 12 yard gain by Cody Card on the latest fourth down. Cole Pfund kept it going with a 37-yard run to pull within 1 point. Instead of going for the standard tie, coach Whitney went for the throat with a two-point conversion that Trevon Rodriguez hauled in.
An ill-timed bad snap pushed NC from third & five to a fourth-down & 14. The lone bright spot for the moment being that it set up OG more than 90 yards away. "For the moment" being the operative words as Cody Card broke loose for a 91-yard touchdown run to extend the lead.
The momentum swing kept going in Oak Grove's direction as they blocked the next punt attempt. The Jaguars took a little bit of the momentum back as they kept the short field from turning into more points against them.
But they were equally as unsuccessful with their next chance.
So the Grovers had their last of the half. In line with their second, the Grovers went with a non-quarterback throwing but Card's shotput toss ended up in the intended hands of Rylee Bakkegard for the final points of the half.
Out of the break, the teams traded punts before the Jaguars closed the gap with a second score by VanderWal. Even then, the positivity that they could draw from the score was muted as the point-after was blocked. With the energy that it did provide they forced another Oak Grove punt, after a Rodriguez 36-yard run was wiped out by a penalty.
And so the defensive lines for each side started to assert themselves. With Northern Cass starting at the 8, Andrew Green got into the backfield for a takedown before yet another punt. Not to be outdone, Max Broneske had his own play behind the line after a bad snap.
And so the field flipped. With their backs against the Western end zone the Jags tried to create some breathing room but a tipped pass ended up in the hands of Cody Card, who walked in for the score.
Back to a 16 point lead and with time on their side, the Grovers could really attack on defense. And that is exactly that they did before NC punted yet again.
But the Grover offense wasn't able to run much time down before they two had to kick it back. The Jaguars forced another punt by the home team on the next possession as well, but in-between Kolby VanderWal finished his standout performance with a final touchdown and then the 2 pt conversion.
Save for a few plays of yardage over the final minutes that was how the game ended.
Oak Grove 29, Northern Cass 21
Kolby VanderWal finished his high school career about as well as anyone could, individually. If not for the Oak Grove legacy he would get the nod, even in a loss.
But that guy made too many plays to be overlooked.
Cody Card
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