Pelican Rapids dominates Crookston Pirate Football in Section 8AA Playoffs

The Crookston Pirate Football team gave up a touchdown on the first play of the game and the Pelican Rapids Vikings dominated the rest of the way for a 63-0 victory in the first round of the Section 8AA Football tournament in Pelican Rapids.

1st Quarter –
Pelican Rapids won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game. The Vikings’ first play of the game was a quarterback draw, and Grady Larson ran up the middle and pulled away from all the Pirate defenders for a 59-yard touchdown, and after the extra point kick, Pelican Rapids led 7-0 lead.
Crookston’s first offensive series included a run for a loss of five yards, a one-yard run, and a six-yard pass from Tate Hamre to Jaron Knutson to set up a fourth-and-long. A false start penalty moved Crookston back five yards, and they were forced to punt. Crookston punted the ball 27 yards, and Pelican Rapids Aiden Checco De Souza caught the ball at his 39-yard line and bolted down the sideline for a 61-yard punt return touchdown, and after the extra point kick, the Vikings led 14-0 with 9:29 left in the quarter.
Crookston’s next offensive series began with an incomplete pass. Hamre was hit for a seven-yard loss, followed by a five-yard loss on a delay-of-game penalty. After a loss of four more yards, the Pirates punted the ball for 33 yards. Pelican Rapids’ first play of the series was a handoff to Bricker Haugrud for a 45-yard touchdown run, and after the extra point kick, it was a 21-0 lead with 7:36 remaining.
Pelican Rapids went with an onside kick, caught Crookston off guard, and recovered the ball at the Crookston 49-yard line. They had a 12-yard pass, a three-yard run, and an incomplete pass to set up a third-and-seven play. Larson handed off to Haugrud for a 15-yard run and a first down. Three plays later, they had a fourth down and four plays, and Larson threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Isaman for another touchdown, and after the extra point kick, the Vikings led 28-0 with 4:27 remaining.
Crookston’s Dominico Roche was hit for a loss of eight yards, and after two incomplete passes, the Pirates punted. After a 38-yard Jaron Knutson punt, Pelican Rapids had the ball at their own 38-yard line. After three plays, the Vikings’ Larson flung the ball down the sideline and Torres caught the ball over his shoulder, in stride for a 45-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead going into the second quarter.

2nd Quarter –
Neither team did much on the first two offensive series, and Pelican Rapids had the ball. After a holding penalty, Grady Larson passed to Torres for a 44-yard touchdown and a 42-0 lead with 9:07 left in the half. Crookston got the ball back at their own 30-yard line, and Knutson ran for six yards, Hamre ran for one, and Jose Arriaga had a four-yard run for a first down, the first Pirate first down of the game. A few plays later, Crookston’s Knutson ran for seven yards, but was three yards short of a first down for a turnover on downs.
Pelican Rapids had a loss of four yards on their first play before Aiden Checco De Souza got a pitch deep behind the line of scrimmage and bolted down the sideline and made a couple of nice moves to go 48 yards for a touchdown and a 49-0 lead with 4:59 left in the half.
Crookston followed up with a fourth down and 10-yard play and tried for a fake punt, but Pelican Rapids stopped the play with an incomplete pass for another turnover on downs.
Pelican Rapids got the ball back and on the first play of the series, Calvin Norton ran 40-yards for another touchdown for a 63-0 lead and that is how the first half would end.

3rd Quarter –
The officials and coaches decided to limit the third quarter to one minute. Crookston received the ball to start the half and had a loss of one before Jose Arriaga ran for 15 yards and a first down, and the clock hit zero for the end of the quarter.

4th Quarter –
The fourth quarter was a 12-minute running time quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Crookston fumbled the ball, and Pelican Rapids recovered at the Crookston 15-yard line. After a running play of eight yards, there was a 10-yard holding penalty. The Vikings fumbled and recovered the ball to set up a fourth down and seven. The Vikings had an incomplete pass and turned the ball over on downs. Crookston got the ball at their own 14-yard line, and Zachariah Ali ran for one yard, Jose Arriaga ran for no gain, and then a run of five yards. On fourth down, Crookston had no gain and the fourth turnover on downs of the game.
Pelican Rapids had the ball at the Crookston 18-yard line. Pelican Rapids looked like they scored a touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding call and they later turned the ball over on downs. Crookston picked up a first down before the clock hit zero and Pelican Rapids won the game 63-0.

Crookston’s season ends with a 2-7 record, and they say goodbye to the following seniors: Dexter Janek, Zachariah Ali, Tate Hamre, Caleb Overby, Jose Arriaga, Masen Reitmeier, and Casey Weiland. Pelican Rapids improves to 4-5 on the year and will play at Barnsville on Saturday in the Section 8AA semi-finals.

Click below to hear Coach Jim McBride’s comments.

SCORING-
1st Quarter –
11:43 – PR – Grady Larson 59 yard run (Jimmy Salazar kick)
9:29 – PR – Aiden Checco De Souza 61 yard punt return (Jimmy Salazar kick)
7:28 – PR – Bricker Haugrud 45 yard run (Jimmy Salazar kick)
4:27 – PR – Grady Larson 13 yard pass to Ethan Isaman (Jimmy Salazar kick)
1:31 – PR – Grady Larson 45 yard pass to Miguel Torres (Jimmy Salazar kick)

2nd Quarter –
11:32 – PR – Bricker Haugrud 50 yard run (Jimmy Salazar kick)
9:07 – PR – Grady Larson 44 yard pass to Miguel Torres (Jimmy Salazar kick)
3:23 – PR – Aiden Checco De Souza 48 yard run (Jimmy Salazar kick)
42.9 – PR – Calvin Norton 40 yard run (Jimmy Salazar kick)

3rd Quarter –
No scoring

4th Quarter –
No scoring

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Jaron Knutson

Jose Arriaga

Dominico Roche

Ean Deleon

Jaron Knutson

Jose Arriaga

Dominico Roche

Ean Deleon

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