WIN-E-MAC SCORES TWICE LATE IN 30-18 WIN OVER FERTILE-BELTRAMI FOR SECTION TITLE

The Win-E-Mac Patriots used an interception for a touchdown with over two minutes left in the game to solidify a 30-18 victory over the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons in the Section 6 9-Man championship game in the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

FIRST QUARTER-
Win-E-Mac started the game with the ball and drove down the field and after nine plays they had the ball at the Fertile-Beltrami 28 yard line. Win-E-Mac went for it on a fourth and 11 play and Gavin Walker threw a pass over the middle of the field. The pass was tipped by a Falcon player and went into the hands of Bryer Strom in the endzone for a touchdown. After a Nathan Fortman run for the two-point conversion, Win-E-Mac led 8-0 with 7:57 left in the quarter.
Fertile-Beltrami’s first drive ended in a punt after six plays, but on the punt return a Win-E-Mac player fumbled the ball and the Falcons recovered the ball at the 21-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Soren Larson fired a 20-yard pass to Everett Balstad for a touchdown. The Falcon two-point conversion failed and Win-E-Mac held on for an 8-6 lead with 4:29 left in the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER-
Fertile-Beltrami stopped the first Win-E-Mac drive of the second quarter and had the ball back. The first Falcon play of the drive was a 34-yard pass from Larson to Hunter Hitchen down the Falcon sideline. Nine players later, Fertile-Beltrami fumbled the ball at the Win-E-Mac 16 yard line. Win-E-Mac wasn’t able to convert on their next drive when they threw a pass into the endzone and Addison McCollum intercepted the pass to stop the Patriot threat.
Fertile-Beltrami was forced to punt late in the quarter and Win-E-Mac went to the air with Walker finding Dustin Osland for a 21 and 9-yard pass on back-to-back plays. Three plays later, Walker stretched the ball across the goal line for a touchdown as time expired. The two-point conversion was good and the Patriots took a 16-6 lead into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER-
Fertile-Beltrami started the second half with the ball and ran three plays and were forced to punt. Win-E-Mac was forced to punt after running eight plays on their first drive of the half.
Fertile-Beltrami started their second drive of the half with a Micah Tollefson scampering 27 yards to get the ball across the 50 yard line into Patriot territory. After a play for no gain, Everett Balstad ran for 15 yards for another first down. Two plays later, Larson ran for 32 yards for a touchdown and after the two-point conversion failed, Win-E-Mac led 18-16 with 4:32 left in the quarter.
Win-E-Mac ran three plays and were forced to punt and Fertile-Beltrami had the ball at their own 30-yard line. The second play of the drive was a 51 yard run for Balstad. Two plays later, Larson ran the ball and fumbled but Micah Tollefson was there to grab the ball and he ran 18 yards for a touchdown and Fertile-Beltrami took an 18-16 lead with 1:28 left in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER –
Win-E-Mac started the fourth quarter with the ball and put a 10 play 63-yard drive together which was capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass and the Patriots led 24-18 halfway through the fourth quarter.
Fertile-Beltrami was looking to answer late in the game and with over two minutes left in the game, they tried a screen pass to the left side and the pass was intercepted by Kobe Hamre who ran 45 yards for a touchdown to solidify the Patriot victory with a 30-16 lead with 2:18 remaining.
Fertile-Beltrami threw another interception on the next drive and Win-E-Mac held on for a 30-16 victory.

Fertile-Beltrami ends their season with a 9-2 record and says goodbye to nine seniors. Win-E-Mac improves to 11-0 and will take on the Section 8 9-Man champion in the first round of the state tournament next Friday at Moorhead High School at 7:00 p.m.

1st Quarter
7:57 – W-E-M –  Bryer Strom 28 yard pass from Gavin Walker (Nathan Fortmann run)
4:29 – F-B – Everett Balstad 20 yard pass from Soren Larson (run failed)

2nd Quarter
0:00 (time expired)  – W-E-M – Gavin Walker 2 yard run (Tom Martushev run)

3rd Quarter
4:32 – F-B  –  Soren Larson 32 yard run (pass failed)
1:28 – F-B –   Micah Tollefson  18 yard run  (pass failed)

4th Quarter
6:11 – W-E-M – Reed Nuebert 24 yard pass from Gavin Walker (Nathan Fortmann run)
2:18 – W-E-M- Kobe Hamre 45 yard interception return (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATS