The Mahnomen/Waubun Thunderbirds used stellar defense and a few big plays to bea the Red Lake County Rebels 21-7 in the Section 8A Football championship game at the Fargodome.
1st Quarter –
Mahnomen-Waubun started the game with the ball, and on the first play, they were hit for a loss of one yard on a run. The Thunderbirds answered in a big way on the next play as Blake McMullen bombed a pass down the sideline and Zach Zima made a running grab and won the race for a 98-yard touchdown reception. McMullen converted the extra point for an 8-0 lead 59 seconds into the game.
Red Lake County started its first drive with a Gunnar Halverson 11-yard run for a first down. Three plays later, they were called for a delay of the game for a five-yard penalty. On the next play, Connor Duden fired a pass to Thoren Thronson for 15 yards and a first down. Three plays later, the Rebels had a fourth and six play and tried a pass, but it was incomplete for a turnover on downs at the Thunderbird 34-yard line.
Mahnomen/Waubun started their second drive with a five-yard false start penalty and a run for a loss of two yards. Three plays later they got a first down to keep the drive going. They had Brady Lhotka runs of seven and eight yards for another first down. The drive looked like it was in trouble after a run for no gain and two incomplete passes at the RLC five-yard line. On fourth down and goal, McMullen found Tanner Stech for a five-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead with 1:24 left in the quarter.
2nd Quarter –
Red Lake County needed to answer as they ended the first quarter and started the second quarter with their second offensive series. The Rebels called on Gunnar Halvorsen for carries of five and 10 yards. After a five-yard encroachment penalty, Halversen had two carries for six yards. The Rebels’ Duden dropped back to pass on the next play and dumped off a short pass to Ethan Johnson, who had a fantastic run after catch and exploded down the sideline for a 42-yard touchdown. After the Kegan Schmitz extra point kick, Red Lake County trailed 14-7 less than two minutes into the quarter.
Mahnomen/Waubun moved the ball down the field 22 yards on three plays before they were called for a five-yard penalty and a 10-yard holding penalty on the next play. They lost five yards on the next play before an incomplete pass. On a fourth-down play, the Thunderbirds tried a fake punt, and it was stopped short of the first-down marker at their own 45-yard line.
Red Lake County was looking to take advantage of the momentum swing in the quarter and had a Halvorsen nine yard run before a 10-yard holding call. They made up for it on the next play as Johnson caught a 30-yard pass on an amazing grab for another first down. Three plays later, they had a fourth and six and called a timeout. The Rebels tried to a 25-yard field goal, but it went wide right and the score was 14-7 at halftime.
3rd Quarter –
Red Lake County started the second half with the ball, had a three-and-out, and punted for the first time in the game. After a 26-yard punt, Mahnomen/Waubun had the ball at their 25-yard line. The second play of the drive was a Manny Johnson 24-yard run. Three plays later, they had another first down. Three more plays and another first down. The Rebel defense picked up its play and held the Thunderbirds to 1, 3, and 2 yard gains. On a fourth-down play, the Rebels had a big stop on fourth down to get the ball back at their 20-yard line. Red Lake County got the ball back and the score was 13-7 going into the fourth quarter.
4th Quarter –
Red Lake County started the next drive in the third quarter, but it carried over into the fourth. It started with a loss of six yards on the first two plays before a 15-yard facemask penalty. After a five-yard run and a first down the Rebels kept moving the ball down the field. An eight-yard pass to Ben Gullingsrud with a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty gave RLC a first down. Gullingsrud followed with a 23-yard run. The Rebels had gains of one and two yards before a loss of two yards and then turned the ball over on downs at the Thunderbird 15-yard line.
Mahnomen/Waubun, as they did the entire game, had another lengthy drive. The second play of the drive was a 21-yard by McMullen before McMullen found Lhotka for a 17-yard passing play. The next plays were gains of 4, 8, 6, 10, and 4 before a false start penalty moved them back five yards. After a nine-yard run down to the three-yard line, McMullen ran for three yards and a touchdown for a 21-7 lead after the extra point kick was good. With 4:16 remaining, Red Lake County needed to move the ball quickly and the first play of their drive was a pass, but Lhotka intercepted it for the Thunderbirds to seal the victory for Mahnomen/Waubun with a 21-7 win.
Red Lake County ends the season at 9-2 and will say goodbye to the following seniors – Ethan Johnson, Connor Duden, Gunnar Halvorsen, Marley Benoit, Riley Broden, Masen Pahlen, Oliver Melin, Kegan Schmitz, and Alex Renner. Mahnomen/Waubun improves to 10-0 on the year and will play in the first round of the State Class A Football playoffs in Becker or Morris next week.
Click below to listen to Coach Brian Remick’s comments.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Red Lake County | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Mahnomen/Waubun | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
SCORING-
1st Quarter –
11:01 – MW – Blake McMullen 98 yard pass to Zach Zima (Blake McMullen run)
1:24 – MW – Blake MuMullen 5-yard pass to Tanner Stech (run failed)
2nd Quarter –
10:11 – RLC – Connor Duden 42-yard pass to Ethan Johnson (Kegan Schmitz kick)
3rd Quarter –
No scoring
4th Quarter –
4:16 – MW – Blake McMullen 3 yard run (Tanner Stech kick)
| TEAM STATS | Red Lake County | Mahnomen/Waubun |
| Rushing Yards | 22 – 85 yards | 40 – 206 yards |
| Passing Yards | 101 | 180 yards |
| Total Yards | 186 yards | 386 yards |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0 | 0 |
| First Downs | 7 | 14 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3 – 20 yards | 10 – 80 yards |
| Punts | 1 – 26 yards | 0 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
| Red Lake County | Mahnomen/Waubun |
| Rushing | Rushing |
| Gunnar Halvorsen – 14 – 47 yards | Blake McMullen 11 – 72 yards |
| Ben Gullingsrud – 2 – 29 yards | Manny Johnson – 13 – 69 yards |
| Connor Duden 6 – 9 yards | Brody Lhotka 13 – 63 yards |
| Tanner Stech 1 – 2 yards | |
| Passing | Passing |
| Connor Duden 7-10 101 yards | Blake McMullen 7 -9 180 yards |
| Receiving | Receiving |
| Ethan Johnson – 2 – 73 yards | Zach Zima – 1 – 98 yards |
| Thoren Thronson – 1 – 15 yards | Tanner Stech – 4 – 62 yards |
| Ben Gullingsrud – 3 – 7 yards | Brody Lhotka – 2 – 19 yards |
| Gunnar Halvorsen – 1 – 6 yards |
