CROOKSTON FOOTBALL SEASON COMES TO AN END WITH LOSS TO WARROAD IN SECTION 8AA PLAYOFFS

The Crookston Pirate Football season ended on Tuesday night with a loss to the Warroad Warriors in the first round of the Section 8AA Playoffs. “I thought we battled well,” said Crookston Coach Nate Lubarski. “We maybe got hit in the mouth more than we wanted to, and us being a young team maybe showed, but we just weren’t quite able to make enough plays.” The Warriors used a few big plays and a big second half on their way to a 42-18 win in a game played in Warroad.

FIRST-QUARTER

The defenses for both teams started strong and made life tough on the offenses, as Crookston forced a three and out, and the Warriors defense responded forcing the Pirates into a fourth down and short in Warriors territory. Crookston elected to go for it on fourth down and was stopped giving the football back to Warroad. Defenses continued to control the first quarter, as the Warriors would only pick up one first down before being forced to punt. Crookston wouldn’t have the football long though as they would quickly punt it back to the Warriors after a three and out. Brooks Butt would get off a 41-yard punt giving Warroad the football back on their own 28-yard line. The Warriors on their next possession pulled off a little trickery on a 4^th down and nine in their own territory as they lined up to punt, but the snap went to Murray Marvin-Cordes and he threw a pass to Cole Spenst for a 16-yard gain keeping the drive alive at the end of the first quarter.

SECOND-QUARTER

The offenses came to life in the second quarter. The Warriors finished the drive from the end of the first quarter and found the end zone on a 5-yard run from Gaabi Boucha. It was setup after a Boucha broke a 35-yard run on the prior play. Boucha would also add the two-point conversion giving Warroad an 8-0 lead with 11:15 remaining in the half. “That was a great fake punt call to lead to that score,” said Crookston Coach Nate Lubarski. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to rise up and get a stop and had to play from behind.” The Crookston offense on their next possession was once again stopped and forced to punt. Warroad would start their next drive on their own 23-yard line after a 36-yard punt from Brooks Butt. The Crookston defense stepped up and after a short punt, would start another drive in Warroad territory on the Warriors 43-yard line. This time the Pirates would take advantage, as it only took two plays to find the end zone. Ethan Boll broke his longest run of the half going down the sideline for 37 yards, and on the very next play, Boll took a handoff 6 yards for the touchdown. The two-point conversion would fail to keep Warroad in front with an 8-6 lead with 5:53 remaining in the opening half. The Pirates once again got a stop and turned it into quick points taking their first lead of the football game. Jack Doda found a wide-open Cade DeLeon down the field on a play-action pass for a 43-yard touchdown giving the Pirates a 12-8 lead with 2:39 remaining in the half. “We were trying to get their defense to shift where we could take some shots down the field,” said Crookston Coach Nate Lubarski. “Jack made a nice throw and Cade was able to bring it in and do the rest.” The two-point conversion would fail. The scoring wasn’t done in the first half, as on the Warriors first play of the next drive, they hit their biggest play of the game, as Jack Jones found Cole Spenst wide open down the field after a fake screen sprung him loose. Spenst would take it all the way for an 81-yard touchdown reception, and Gaabi Boucha would convert the two-point conversion giving Warroad the lead back 16-12 with 2:17 remaining in the half. Crookston would move the football down into the red zone after a 46-yard passing play from Jack Doda to Ethan Bowman. However, the Pirates would turn the ball over on downs ending the half and giving the Warriors a 16-12 lead at the halftime break.

THIRD-QUARTER

The second half was all Warroad as they used a strong running attack to blow the game open. It was a quick third quarter, as Crookston received the second-half kickoff and couldn’t do anything offensively punting the ball away to the Warriors. Warroad would then go on the longest drive of the night that saw them convert two third downs and a fourth down on their way to another touchdown. In total, the drive was 11 plays, 6 minutes, and went 77 yards. Gaabi Boucha finished the drive off with his second touchdown of the night, this time a 25-yard run. The two-point conversion would fail to give Warroad a 22-12 lead with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter. Crookston needed some points to get back into the football game but wouldn’t get any as they were forced into a punting situation. Matthew Hard flew through the Pirates line and blocked the ensuing Brooks Butt punt giving Warroad their best field position of the night on the Pirates 26-yard line at the end of the fourth quarter.

FOURTH-QUARTER

Warroad quickly faced a fourth down in the last quarter of play and would pull out another trick play to convert. They not only got a first down, but a touchdown as Gaabi Boucha took a reverse and threw it down the field to a wide-open Kyle Kvarnlov in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown reception. The Pirates would stop the two-point conversion keeping it a two-score game with Warroad leading 28-12. Crookston wouldn’t go away without a fight. The next offensive play for the Pirates went for a 62-yard touchdown run from Ethan Boll. Crookston would fail on the two-point conversion keeping it a two-possession game with Warroad in control 28-18 with 11:32 remaining in the football game. The Crookston defense had a chance to stop Warroad on a third and long on the ensuing possession, but Jack Jones would keep the football on an option play and have his longest run of the night down to the Crookston 15-yard line for a gain of 46. The Crookston defense would have one more chance to get a big stop and keep their season alive. The Warriors however would convert the fourth down and short and a few plays later find the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run from Murray Marvin-Cordes. Gaabi Boucha would convert the two-point conversion giving Warroad a 36-18 lead with 4:40 remaining and putting the game out of reach. Warroad wasn’t done with the scoring yet, as after forcing the Pirates into a turnover on downs, Matthew Hard would take a handoff 22 yards for a touchdown extending the lead to 42-18. The extra point would fail, and Crookston would have one last offensive possession on the season with 2:57 remaining. The Pirates were unable to score on their last drive, as Doda would be sacked twice, and Crookston would turn the ball over on downs. Warroad would run the remaining time off the clock securing the 42-18 victory and bringing the Pirates season to an end. “I really appreciate the effort of our kids and coaches this season. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me,” said Crookston Coach Nate Lubarksi. “I had a lot of fun this season and that says a lot about our kids and coaches. The kids work ethics day in and day out made them a real joy to coach.”

Crookston finishes Lubarski’s first season as Head Coach with a final record of 3-6. For Seniors Brady Wisk, Jacob Hesby, Cade DeLeon, and Brooks Butt it was their last game in a Pirates uniform. “These seniors may not be a large group in number, but have done a tremendous amount for our team and this football program in general over the years,” said Crookston Coach Nate Lubarski. “They guided our team well, and our younger players learned a lot from this senior class. They will be missed.” Warroad improves to 6-3 and advances to the Section 8AA semifinals where they will play the #1 seed Barnesville Trojans on Saturday. The kickoff is TBD.

1st quarter
– no scoring

2nd Quarter
11:15 – Warroad – Gaabi Boucha 5-yard run (Boucha run)
5:53 – CROX – Ethan Boll 6-yard run (run failed)
2:39 – CROX – Jack Doda 43-yard pass to Cade DeLeon (run failed)
2:17 – Warroad – Jack Jones 81-yard pass to Cole Spenst (Boucha run)

3rd quarter
2:38 – Warroad – Gaabi Boucha 25-yard run (run failed)

4th quarter
11:45 – Warroad – Gaabi Boucha 25-yard pass to Kyle Kvarnlov (pass failed)
11:32 – CROX – Ethan Boll 62-yard run (run failed)
4:40 – Warroad – Murray Marvin-Cordes 3-yard run (Boucha run)
2:57 – Warroad – Matthew Hard 22-yard run (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATS