Kittson Co. Central uses two huge fourth down stops to beat Stephen-Argyle in the Section 8 9-Player Football Championship

The Kittson County Central Bearcats had two huge fourth-down defensive stops and a punt return for a touchdown to beat the Stephen-Argyle Storm 22-14 in the Section 8 9-Player Football championship game at the Fargodome.

1st Quarter –
KCC started the game with the ball and put a nice drive together. It began with an incomplete pass. The following two plays were a four-yard carry from Ashton Knutson and a seven-yard run from Eil Muir for a first down. The following two plays were runs for 11 yards and another first down. After a few short plays, the Bearcats had a fourth and long and set up to punt. There was a direct snap to Muir, who ran for 20 yards and a huge first down. Three plays later, Eli Peterson found Muir down the sideline for a 17-yard touchdown pass, and after the two-point conversion, KCC led 8-0 less than four minutes into the game.
Stephen-Argyle’s first drive started promising, with Shay Setterholm running for 11 yards for a first down and Kellen Johnson running for another 11 yards and another first down. The Storm’s drive sputtered after that, forcing them to punt. After a 21-yard punt, KCC had the ball at its 22-yard line. The Bearcats ran five plays and were forced to punt. After a 37-yard punt, Stephen-Argyle had the ball at their 14-yard line with 1:56 left in the opening quarter.
Kellen Johnson ran for 6 yards before Setterholm found Anders Thompson for a 13-yard pass and a first down and KCC took an 8-0 lead into the second quarter.

2nd Quarter –
Three plays later, they had another first down. Three more plays later, Stephen-Argyle recorded another first down. After a loss of three yards, the Storm’s Setterholm found Rayden Woinarowicz for a 17-yard pass and another first down. Three plays later they recorded another first down. They ran for 11 more yards on the next two plays down to the one-yard line. Setterholm scored on a quarterback sneak, and after Kellen Johnson converted the two-point try, they tied the game at 8-8 with 7:19 left in the half. The drive was 16 plays and 86 yards.
KCC got the ball back and started the drive at their 47-yard line, and went for it on a fourth down and three play, and ran for four yards and a first down. The next play was a big one for the Bearcats as Eli Peterson dropped back to pass and found Kellen Johnson down the sideline. Johnson was running down the sideline, and the Storm tried to push him out of bounds, but actually pushed him forward down the sideline and he kept running for a 42-yard touchdown reception for a 14-8 lead with 7:10 left in the half.
Stephen-Argyle got the ball back and put another impressive drive together as they started with two carries for 12 yards and a first down. Two plays later, they ran for two yards, but a personal foul facemask penalty was called, and they had an extra 15 yards tacked onto the play. Three plays later, they had another first down. After an incompletion, they had no gain, a pair of runs down to the one-yard line for a fourth and goal at the one-yard line with less than a minute left in the half. The Storm tried to run the ball, and the KCC came up with a big-time stop to take a 14-8 lead into halftime.

3rd Quarter –
Stephen-Argyle started the second half with the ball, and after a loss of one yard, they ran for six yards on the next two plays to set up a fourth and long and were forced to punt. After a 35-yard punt, KCC had the ball at its 40-yard line. The Bearcats started the drive with a 10-yard penalty, which put them in a tough spot, and they were forced to punt the ball away three plays later. After a 36-yard punt, Stephen-Argyle ran four plays for 29 yards and a pair of first downs. They were called for holding on the next play, and after a three-yard gain, they had two incomplete passes and were forced to punt. On the Storm punt, Eli Muir caught the punt and darted to the KCC sideline, flew past Storm defenders, and scampered 77 yards for a punt return touchdown for a 22-8 lead with 4:05 remaining in the quarter.
Neither team was able to get much going offensively the rest of the quarter and the Bearcats took a 22-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

4th Quarter –
Stephen Argyle’s first possession of the quarter started with a Settholm 17-yard run for a first down, and that seemed to spark the Storm. They had two seven-yard carries for another first down. After a four-yard run, Setterholm found Woinarowicz for a 36-yard pass completion for another first down to set up a first and goal at the 10-yard line. After a nine-yard run, the Storm’s Setterholm dropped back to pass and found Anders Thompson for a 1-yard touchdown pass and after the extra point kick failed, KCC led 22-14 with 6:33 left in the game.
KCC started the next drive with a 24-yard pass from Peterson to Muir for a first down. Three plays later, they were forced to punt and Stephen-Argyle had the ball at their own 22-yard line with 4:28 remaining. The first two plays were passing plays of 11 and 10 yards for a pair of first downs. They covered eight yards on the following three plays to set up a fourth down and two situation. They went for it and were stopped one yard shy of a first down, and the Bearcat defense came up with another huge stop on a fourth-down play. KCC only ran six plays on their next drive and turned the ball over on downs. Stephen-Argyle had the ball at their 21-yard line with 58 seconds left in the game. The first three plays were for 24 yards. After no gain and an incomplete pass, they completed a pass, but the ball was fumbled, and KCC recovered it to secure the 22-14 victory.

Kittson County Central improves to 10-0 on the year and will play on Thursday, November 6, at either Grand Rapids or Moorhead against an opponent that will be decided on Saturday when they have the state seeding meeting. Stephen-Argyle’s outstanding season ends with a 9-2 record and they say goodbye to the following seniors – Anders Thompson, Raydon Woinarowicz, Dylan Widner, Shay Setterholm, Jake Carlson, Caden Pagnac, Keenan Srynsky, and Rylan Anderson.

SCORING-
1st Quarter –
8:03 – KCC – Eli Peterson 17 yard pass to Elijah Mjuir (Ashton Knutson run)

2nd Quarter –
7:19 – SAC – Shay Setterholm 1 yard run (Kellen Johnson run)
4:29 – KCC – Eli Peterson 42 yard pass to Kellen Johnson (Track Folland kick)

3rd Quarter –
4:05 – KCC – Eli Muir 77 yard punt return (Track Folland kick)

4th Quarter –
6:33 – SAC – Shay Setterholm 1 yard pass to Anders Thompson (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Eli Muir

Dylan Widner

A Storm gang tackle

Kellen Johnson

Owen Widner

Eli Peterson

Anders Thompson

Kittson County Central Bearcats

Eli Muir

Dylan Widner

A Storm gang tackle

Kellen Johnson

Owen Widner

Eli Peterson

Anders Thompson

Kittson County Central Bearcats

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