Polk County West’s Tiyaz Davis had a defensive touchdown scoring four touchdowns total to lead the Thunder to a 55-12 victory over the Crookston Pirate Football team at KROX Radio Stadium in Crookston.
1st Quarter –
Crookston won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Polk County West (PCW) took the ball to start the game and on the first play, Micah Zavoral dropped back to pass and found a wide-open Tristan Schwartz for a 40-yard reception and a first down. After running plays of five, one, and five, the Thunder had another first down to the Crookston 29 yard line. They handed the ball off to Grady Horken, who got to the outside and hit the afterburners to blow by the Crookston for a 29 yard touchdown run.
Crookston’s first offensive possession was a three-and-out and after a 31-yard punt, PCW returned it 40 yards and started their second drive at the Crookston 39-yard line. The first play was a 19-yard pass to Jace Motl for a first down. After a loss of seven yards and a gain of one, the Thunder handed the ball to Tiyaz Davis for a 26 yard touchdown and after an extra point kick, PCW led 14-0 with 5:04 remaining in the quarter.
Crookston had another three and out and had to punt. Crookston’s Jaren Knutson got a friendly roll for a 44-yard punt and the Thunder started their third drive at their own 32-yard line and led 14-0 after the first quarter.
2nd Quarter –
PCW’s first play of the drive was a 25 yard run while breaking several tackles. After two running plays, they had gains of 13 and 10 for a pair of first downs. Two plays later and 11 yard run gave the Thunder the ball at the one yard line. Quarterback Micah Zavoral scored on a one-yard sneak into the endzone for a a 20-0 lead less than three minutes into the quarter.
Crookston had another three-and-out and after a 42-yard punt the Thunder had the ball at their own 24 yard line. The first PCW play was a Davis 11-yard run and after an incomplete pass, Davis ran for 37 yards for another first down. Four plays later, Grady Horken used his speed to get into the endzone on a 15 yard touchdown and the Thunder led 26-0 with 4:19 left in the half.
Crookston fumbled the ball two plays later, but PCW threw an interception on the next offensive play and Crookston had the ball back .29 seconds later, Crookston tried a backwards pass, the ball was dropped and rolled into the endzone as Davis picked it up for a touchdown and after a two-point conversion, the Thunder led 34-0. The Thunder got the ball back after a Pirate turnover at the Crookston 13-yard line. Three plays later, Davis scored on a seven yard run for a 41-0 lead going into halftime.
3rd Quarter –
Crookston started the second half with the ball. On the third play, they fumbled the ball and PCW recovered at the Pirate 27 yard line. Four plays later, the Thunder’s Davis scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 17 yard run for a 47-0 lead.
Crookston’s offense continued its struggles and PCW got the ball back a few possessions later with the backups in and going against Crookston’s starters. That didn’t stop the Thunder from scoring again as Dylan Larson scored on a 23-yard run and the two-point conversion was good for a 55-0 lead with 2:40 left in the quarter.
Crookston had the ball at their own 43 yard line and handed the ball off to Jaren Knutson who ran up the middle for 57 yards and a touchdown to give the Pirates their first points of the 2026 season after almost 11 scoreless quarters.
The Pirates stopped PCW and got the ball back at the PCW 21 yard line after a turnover and a few plays later, Knutson scored on an eight yard run to bring Crookston within a 55-12 deficit to end the third quarter.
4th Quarter –
Running time started in the fourth quarter with the Thunder leading by 43 points so the quarter flew by and neither team scored and the Thunder coasted to a 55-12 victory.
Polk County West held Crookston to a loss of 10 yards in the first half and 99 yards for the game.
Crookston drops to 0-3 on the year and will travel to Cass Lake-Bena on Friday for a game at 5:00 p.m. You can hear the game on KROX Radio with the pre-game show at 4:20 p.m. Polk County West improves to 2-1 on the year and will host Walker-Hackensack-Akeley on Friday at Climax at 7:00 PM.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Polk County West | 14 | 27 | 14 | 0 | 55 |
| Crookston | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
SCORING-
1st Quarter –
9:03 – PCW – Grady Horken 29 yard run (Tiyaz Davis kick)
5:04 – PCW – Tiyaz Davis 26 yard run (Tiyaz Davis Kick)
2nd Quarter –
9:45 – PCW – Micah Zavoral 1 yard run (kick failed)
4:19 – PCW – Grady Horken 15 yard run (pass failed)
2:55 – PCW – Tiyaz Davis fumble recovery in the end zone (Jace Motl run)
0:26 – PCW – Tiyaz Davis 7 yard run (Tiyaz Davis kick)
3rd Quarter –
10:34 – PCW – Tiyaz Davis 17 yard run (kick failed)
2:40 – PCW – Dylan Larson 23 yard run (Blair Johnson run)
2:25 – CROX – Jaren Knutson 57 yard run (kick failed)
0:48 – CROX – Jaren Knutson 8 yard run (kick failed)
4th Quarter –
No Scoring
| TEAM STATS | Crookston | Polk County West |
| Rushing Yards | 89 yards | 348 yards |
| Passing Yards | 10 yards | 59 yards |
| Total Yards | 99 yards | 407 yards |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 2-2 |
| First Downs | 5 | 16 |
| Penalties-Yards | 4 for 50 yards | 3 for 15 yards |
| Punts | 4 for 145 yards | None |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
| Crookston | Nevis |
| Rushing | Rushing |
| Jaren Knutson – 13 for 70 yards | Jace Motl – 8 for 62 yards |
| Beau Smith – 5 for 32 yards | Grady Horken – 8 for 59 yards |
| Asher Wieland – 2 for -3 | Tiyaz Davis – 5 for 92 yards |
| Max Hoerner – 1 for -10 | Dylan Larson – 5 for 37 yards |
| Blair Johnson – 4 for 41 yards | |
| Jack Riske – 4 for 38 yards | |
| Micah Zavoral – 2 for 6 yards | |
| Ryder Shindele – 2 for 3 yards | |
| Braylon Nelson – 1 for 10 yards | |
| Isaac Deere – 1 for 1 yard | |
| Passing | Passing |
| Maddox Hoerner – 2 for 5 10 yards | Micah Zavoral – 2 for 5 59 yards |
| Asher Wieland – 0 for 9 | |
| Receiving | Receiving |
| Mico Roche – 1 for 6 yards | Tristan Schwartz – 1 for 40 yards |
| Kolton Bahrenfuss – 1 for 4 yards | Jace Motl – 1 for 19 yards |
