Red Lake County uses dominant second half to pull away from Polk County West

The Polk County West Thunder hung with the Red Lake County Rebels for the first half, but the game turned into utter domination in the second half and the Rebels pulled away to a 39-12 win in Climax on Wednesday night.

1st Quarter –
Polk County West got the ball to start the game, but did not have it for very long, as the first play of the game was Micah Zavoral throwing a pass that was intercepted by Connor Duden, giving the Rebels the ball in prime field position. They proceeded to milk the clock down, going 43 yards in 8:42, on a 15-play drive capped off by a Ben Gullingsrud 1-yard rush, making it 8-0 Rebels after the successful 2-point try. The Thunder got the ball back, and drove it down the field with the help of a Ty Davis 29-yard rush. However, on 4th down in the red zone, Jace Motl fumbled the ball, turning it over for the second possession in a row, giving the Rebels the ball back. They would run one 2-yard rush before the end of the first quarter.

2nd Quarter –
At the start of the quarter, the Rebels were unable to do anything with the ball, and punted after a three-and-out. PCW got the ball back, and they devised their own answer to the Rebel 15-yard TD drive in the 1st quarter with their own 15-play TD drive in this quarter. The Thunder got a first down run from Jace Motl, and after a couple Rebel penalties, Zavoral threw the ball on 4th down to Ty Davis, who stretched across the pylon for a TD, making it 8-6, after a failed two-point try. This gave the Rebels the ball back with 1:36 to go, but they only needed 0:45 of that, as Gunnar Halvorsen took onbe to the house from 52 yards, and after a successful 2-point conversion, the Rebels took a 16-6 lead into the break.

3rd Quarter –
RLC got the ball to start the third quarter, and they wasted no time. Boe Nelson got things started with a 57-yard run, then he punched it from 4 yards out to give the Rebels a 24-6 lead. From this point on, the two teams went back and forth with punts, as the defenses locked in within the trenches, preventing any offensive success on both sides. The Rebels finally broke througt with 1:55 left, as Halvorsen took off for a 55-yard touchdown run, giving RLC a 32-6 lead. The Rebels then chose to kick the ball onside, recovered it, and after putting the reserves in, Nate Powers took it in from 25 yards out to make it 39-6. The Thunder then recovered another onside kick attempt, and would bring the reserves in for one play before the start of the 4th quarter.

4th Quarter –
The fourth quarter saw PCW finally bring out their reserves, which involved moving Ty Davis to QB and putting in Dylan Larson at running back. He ended up being the most productive offensive piece in the game for the Thunder, as he ran for 60 yards, including the only score of the 4th quarter, scoring from four yards out to cut the lead down to 39-12. However, the defense was not able to stop the Rebel reserves, as they were able to run down the clock and take down the Rebels, winning the game 39-12.

Red Lake County end the regular season at 7-1, while Polk County West ends the season at 3-5.

SCORING-
1st Quarter –
3:05 – RLC – Ben Gullingsrud 1-yard rush (2 pt GOOD, Boe Nelson rush)

2nd Quarter –
1:36 – PCW – Ty Davis 2-yard catch from Micah Zavoral (2 pt NO GOOD)
0:46 – RLC – Gunnar Havlorsen 52-yard rush (2 pt GOOD, Ethan Johnson rush)

3rd Quarter –
10:19 – RLC – Boe Nelson 4-yard rush (2 pt GOOD, Gunnar Halvorsen rush)
1:55 – RLC – Gunnar Halvorsen 55-yard rush (2 pt GOOD, Connor Duden to Ben Gullingsrud)
1:06 – RLC – Nate Powers 25-yard rush (extra point GOOD)

4th Quarter –
8:08 – PCW – Dylan Larson 4-yard rush (2 pt NO GOOD)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Gunnar Halvorsen

Ben Gulingsrud

MIcah Zavoral

Connor Duden

Jace Motl

Jaycer Davis

Ty Davis

Reez Eckerdt

Gunnar Halvorsen

Ben Gulingsrud

MIcah Zavoral

Connor Duden

Jace Motl

Jaycer Davis

Ty Davis

Reez Eckerdt

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