PIRATE FOOTBALL ENDS REGULAR SEASON WITH A WIN OVER OTTER TAIL CENTRAL

The Crookston Pirate Football team survived a rough start and came up with big plays when they needed them in a 16-6 victory over the Otter Tail Central Bulldogs in a game played in Crookston.  Crookston ends the regular season by winning three of their last four games.

FIRST QUARTER-
Crookston started the game with the ball and threw an incomplete pass, ran the ball for no gain and threw another incomplete pass and had to punt the ball.  Otter Tail Central started the drive at their own 25-yard line and threw a one-yard pass on the first play of the drive and hit a home run on their next play.  Quarterback Tanner Arndt dropped back to pass and threw a dart to a Brady VanErp down the far sidelines and he went 74 yards for a touchdown 2:07 into the game.  The two-point conversion was stopped, and OTC led 6-0.  “That obviously wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game,” said Pirate Coach Scott Butt. “We didn’t do much on offense and they hit a long bomb for a touchdown on the second play.  We definitely didn’t script it that way.”
Crookston answered with a nice 11-yard drive that spanned 50 yards before they fumbled the ball on fourth down at the Otter Tail Central 15-yard line.  The Bulldogs ran two plays before Crookston’s Leyton Salentine intercepted a pass at the 26-yard line and returned it to the 16.  “Leyton came up with some big plays all night long for us,” said Coach Butt. “That was a big play to set up some good field position.”  The Pirates looked to have scored a touchdown when Salentine crossed the endzone, but a holding penalty was called, and the drive stalled, and Crookston decided to punt from their 30-yard line after a drive that lost 14 yards.  The Pirate punt was 13 yards and Otter Tail Central was pinned back in their own territory. 

SECOND QUARTER –
Otter Tail Central started the second quarter with the ball on a drive that started at their own 17-yard line.  They ran the ball for seven yards and another carry for two yards.  On the next play, Crookston’s defense came up big to stop a Bulldog running back for no gain, forcing a fourth down and one play.  Otter Tail Central surprisingly went for it deep in their own territory and Crookston’s defense came up with another stop for no gain and the Pirates had the ball at the Bulldog 27-yard line.  The first Pirate play of the drive was a 15-yard pass from Salentine to Ty Hamre for 15 yards down the near side of the field for another first down. “Ty has been doing a great job for us and got behind the linebacker,” said Coach Butt. “Leyton did a good job of finding Ty to start the drive.”  Three plays later, Crookston scored on an Ethan Boll three-yard run to tie the game at 6-6 with 8:54 left in the first half.  Salentine converted the two-point conversion and Crookston led 8-6.  “We were gaining yards, but we needed to score and this time we did,” said Coach Butt.  “Ethan did a great job of running the ball and that was big to take the lead.”
Neither team was able to do much offensively the rest of the half and Crookston took an 8-6 lead into halftime.  “I thought we could have played a little better offensively,” said Coach Butt. “We played well defensively except for the second play, so that was nice to see.”

THIRD QUARTER –
Otter Tail Central started the third quarter with the ball and had to punt after three plays.  Crookston started their first drive of the second half in Otter Tail Central territory.  The Pirates started the drive with a carry and after a penalty, Ethan Boll had two carries for a total of 12 yards and a first down.  After another carry, Salentine dropped back to pass and found Hamre for a 10-yard pass completion and another first down. A couple of plays later Salentine dove into the endzone for a six-yard touchdown for a 14-6 lead halfway through the quarter.  Crookston went for two on the extra point and Salentine found Walker Winjum in the back of the end zone for a two-point pass completion and the Pirates took a two-score lead 16-6.  “That was a huge score for us to go up by 10,” said Coach Butt. “We needed that to give us some room the rest of the way and with the field conditions I liked our chances being up by 10 points.”
Both teams struggled to move the ball the rest of the quarter and Crookston took a 16-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER –
Neither team was able to do much on the offensive end.  Otter Tail Central started their first drive of the quarter at the Crookston 40-yard line but turned the ball over on downs after two incomplete passes.  Crookston had a couple of three and outs and was forced to punt on their first two series of the quarter.  With 4:35 left in the game, Otter Tail Central decided to go to the air and after an incomplete pass, they completed passes of 20 and 23 yards in back-to-back plays.  On the next play, Crookston’s Quinn Westlake intercepted a pass to solidify a Pirate victory by a score of 16-6.  “Brady Wisk and Zach Brown did great as defensive backs.  The defensive line did a tremendous job and boy do they like to play defense,” said Coach Butt. “The kids want to play at home and play in the mud.  The worse the conditions are, the better we seem to play.  To win three of our last four games is huge.  Our kids feel good about themselves and it tells the kids we have a shot no matter who we play in the first round.”

Crookston ends the regular season with a 3-5 record and will play at Warroad in the first round of the Section 8AA football playoffs on Tuesday at 6:00 PM.  Otter Tail Central drops to 3-5 on the year and will start the Section 6A playoffs on Tuesday.

1st Quarter
9:53 – OTC – Tanner Arndt 74 yard pass to Brady VanErp (pass failed)

2nd Quarter
8:54 – Crox – Ethan Boll 3 yard run (Leyton Salentine run)

3rd Quarter
6:17 – Crox – Leyton Salentine 6 yard run (Salentine pass to Walker Winjum)

4th Quarter
No Scoring

INDIVIDUAL STATS