FERTILE-BELTRAMI FOOTBALL TOPS WARREN-ALVARADO-OSLO

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons used a solid rushing performance to top the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies 20-7 on Thursday night in Fertile. It was the first meeting on the gridiron between the old rivals since 2012.

FIRST QUARTER –
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo got the ball to start the game, but quickly went three-and-out. Fertile-Beltrami did the same on their first drive as well. The Falcons threw an interception on the second play of their second drive, but the Ponies turned the ball right back over just two plays later. So, neither team had a very fast start offensively. The Falcons went three-and-out on their third possession, but came up with a big special teams play when Rylin Petry punted the ball 55 yards with the wind at his back, and pinned W-A-O at their own one-yard line. The Ponies moved the ball effectively, moving nearly 50 yards on 13 plays. Unfortunately, the drive stalled and the Ponies punted the ball back to Fertile-Beltrami. Starting at their own 25 early in the second quarter, the Falcons finally found some rhythm on offense.

SECOND QUARTER –
The Falcons mainly stuck to the ground game to open the second quarter, and it worked well for them. Junior Everett Balstad had carries of 16, 14 and 10 yards, as the Falcons drove 75 yards on nine plays. Rylin Petry capped the drive off with a one-yard touchdown run to put the Falcons ahead 6-0 with 7:24 to go in the second quarter. The ensuing two-point try failed. The Ponies started their next possession at their own 35, but turned the ball over five plays later. Quarterback Gavin Gullikson threw a pass deep down the sideline on a 4th down play, but the pass was picked off by Rylin Petry. Starting at their own 10-yard line, Fertile-Beltrami had another terrific drive going and made it all the way to the Ponies’ 11-yard line. With time winding down in the second quarter, Petry went back to throw with less than 20 seconds to go until halftime, got hit as he threw and his pass was picked off near the goal line by Blaise Potucek and returned all the way to the Fertile-Beltrami 37. With one second to go in the first half, Gullikson heaved a pass deep down the field, but it fell incomplete.

THIRD QUARTER –
The Falcons got the ball to start the second half, and immediately marched down the field to take a two-score lead. Everett Balstad scored his  first touchdown of the night from 10 yards out, capping an eight-play, 65-yard march. Brandon Van Den Einde added two points on a successful run to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead with 9:49 to go in the third. Warren-Alvarado Oslo’s offense sputtered in the third quarter, as they failed to get a first down in that entire frame. Their three drives in the third quarter ended in a turnover-on-downs, interception and punt. That punt traveled 38 yards, but was returned all the way up to the Ponies’ 30-yard line, giving the Falcons a short field in the closing seconds of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER –
It only took Fertile-Beltrami five plays to score on a short field. On the fifth play of the drive, Everett Balstad found the end zone on a 10-yard run. The two-point try failed, but the Falcons had a 20-0 lead with 11:29 to go in the game. After each team went three-and-out again, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo took over at their own 11 with 7:12 to go in the game. Facing a steep deficit with time expiring, the Ponies simply tried to keep the ball moving and sustain a drive in the closing minutes. They did that successfully, as Gavin Gullikson completed three straight passes and made plays with his feet to move the Ponies 89 yards on 11 plays. With just seconds remaining, Gullikson scored on a seven-yard touchdown run to spoil the Fertile-Beltrami shut out and get the Ponies on the board with just three seconds remaining. Nathan Sedlacek kicked a successful point-after to make it a 20-7 final score.

Fertile-Beltrami improves to 3-1 on the season, while Warren-Alvarado-Oslo falls to 1-3. The Falcons are scheduled to play Park Christian in Moorhead on November 12 at 7 p.m. The Ponies are scheduled to host Goodridge-Grygla-Gatzke on November 13 at 5 p.m.

1st Quarter
No Scoring

2nd Quarter
7:24 – Fertile Beltrami – Rylin Petry 1-yd TD run (try failed)

3rd Quarter
9:49 – Fertile Beltrami – Everett Balstad 10-yd TD run (Van Den Einde run)

4th Quarter
11:29 – Fertile Beltrami – Everett Balstad 11-yd TD run (try failed)
0:03 – Warren-A-O Gavin Gullikson 7-yd TD run (Sedlacek PAT)

INDIVIDUAL STATS