EGF’S CLYDE ANDERSON SCORES 3 TD’S TO BEAT CROOKSTON FOOTBALL

The East Grand Forks Green Wave Football team’s Clyde Anderson scored three touchdowns and added an interception on defense to lead his team to a 33-7 victory over the Crookston Pirates in the season-opener for both teams in a game played at the UMC Football field in Crookston.

1st Quarter –
Crookston received the opening kickoff, having to drive into a stiff south wind. They started on the ground for a pair of handoffs to Antonio Romero before, on third down Teagan Lubinski was sacked. Disaster struck when the wind caught the ensuing Crookston punt and flew backward towards the endzone. East Grand Fork’s Clyde Anderson fielded the punt at the two-yard line and leaped into the end zone to give the Green Wave a 6-0 lead after the extra point kick was no good.
Crookston got the ball back and still had a challenge moving the ball. Two handoffs totaled a loss of four yards before a pass attempt from Lubinski was completed to Carter Coauette for nine yards, but it still resulted in another punt into the wind.
East Grand Forks took over at the Crookston 42 yard line and started off with a three-yard gain followed by a holding penalty. After an incomplete pass and a two-yard rush, they punted.
Crookston started the drive at their own 13-yard line, and it continued to be a struggle to gain momentum on offense, gaining a total of four yards before they had to punt again.
East Grand Forks started their next drive with excellent field position, and their running game came alive with Levi Anderson recording 11 yards on two carries. Clyde Anderson followed with two carries for 11 yards before Jordan Nowaki had an 11-yard run for a touchdown. EGF tried a two-point conversion, but Romero made an excellent open-field tackle to prevent the two-point conversion and EGF led 12-0 with 2:06 left in the quarter.
Crookston started the ensuing drive at their own 20-yard line, and Romero and Jake Erickson had a pair of four-yard runs to set up a third down and short. Lubinski kept the ball and the Green Wave defense was ready and stopped Lubinski to force a Pirate punt. The snap was off the line, and Erickson had to run, but he was tackled, and the Green Wave got the ball at the Crookston 18. It only took East Grand Forks two carries to find the endzone again, as Clyde Anderson ran in for a three-yard touchdown and a Drew Carpenter extra point kick for a 19-0 lead with 22-seconds left in the quarter.

2nd Quarter –
Crookston began the quarter with a nice pass from Lubinski to Rylan Lubarski for 13 yards before Romero ran for two yards. Lubinski then had the next three touches, with an incomplete pass on 1st down, a two-yard gain on 2nd down, and an incomplete pass on 3rd down which forced Crookston to punt. Jake Erickson had a 63-yard punt which pinned EGF at the Crookston four-yard line.
East Grand Forks’ drive started with a carry by Braden Overgaard for 5 yards, and after a two-yard gain on 2nd down, it was Nowacki with a 12-yard run for the first down. Cole Schmiederberg followed with carries of 14 and five yards. After a gain of no yards, East Grand Forks faced a third down and converted off of a seven-yard rush from Nowacki. The Green Wave continued to move the ball downfield, but after a holding penalty, Nowacki had a 22-yard reception to bring up a third and short. EGF settled for a field goal, but it went wide right and the Green Wave took a 19-0 lead into halftime.

3rd Quarter –
East Grand Forks received the kickoff to start the second half and returned it 31 yards to the 46-yard line. The next snap was fumbled for a loss of 10 yards for the Green Wave. A couple of carries brought up fourth down and a punt.
Crookston began their drive deep in their own territory when they fumbled a snap, and this time the defense recovered. On the first offensive play, East Grand Forks immediately cashed in with a 12-yard touchdown run from Clyde Anderson, for his third score of the game. After an extra point kick, the Green Wave led 26-0.
Crookston received the ensuing kickoff and started the drive at their own 19-yard line, and it would be Crookston dominating the possession time for the rest of the quarter. Lubinski started the drive with a keeper for eight yards, and on third down, he scrambled to his right to extend the play, kept his eyes downfield, and completed a nice throw to Coauette for 11 yards. On first down, Romero had a rush for four yards, then two plays later, Lubinski completed another nice pass, this time to Erickson for 13 yards. Lubinski had the next three carries and gained 15 yards. On first down, Erickson carried the ball for three yards, and two plays later, Lubinski kept it for three yards, bringing up a crucial fourth down to start the final quarter.

4th Quarter –
Crookston’s Lubinski completed a big pass to Romero for six yards to get a first down. A few more rushing attempts brought up a fourth-and-five situation, and EGF’s Clyde Anderson intercepted a pass to stop the Pirate drive.
Crookston’s defense would force a three and out, so the offense got the ball back at mid-field. Lubinski completed another pass to Romero for seven yards before he ran the ball twice for eight yards. After an incompletion, Lubinski carried it twice for 22 yards, and Coauette would get a carry for 10 yards down to the five-yard line. Crookston scored on the next play with a handoff to Romero for a five-yard touchdown, and after an Erickson kick, the Pirates trailed 26-7.
The Pirate celebration was short-lived as Jordan Nowacki would return the kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown for a 33-7. On the following kickoff, Crookston would fumble, and EGF would have it the rest of the way.

The Pirates fall to 0-1 and host Park Rapids on September 8, and EGF improves to 1-0 and will host Little Falls on September 8.

FOR CROOKSTON COACH NATE LUBARSKI’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW

SCORING
1st Quarter –
9:21 – EGF – Clyde Anderson 2-yard punt return (kick failed)
2:06 – EGF – Jordan Nowaki 11-yard run (pass failed)
0:22 – EGF – Clyde Anderson 3-yard run (Drew Carpenter kick)

2nd Quarter –
No scoring

3rd Quarter –
9:05 – EGF – Clyde Anderson 12-yard run (Drew Carpenter kick)

4th Quarter –
2:55 – Crookston – Antonio Romero- 5-yard run (Jake Erickson kick)
2:30 – EGF – Jordan Nowacki 88-yard kick return (Drew Carpenter kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

1 of 6