The Ada-Borup/West Cougars scored on their last three possessions of the first half and cruised the rest of the way for a 28-0 victory over the Polk County West Thunder 28-0 in the Section 8A Championship game played at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
FIRST QUARTER –
Ada-Borup started the game with the ball and ran three plays before they were forced to punt. Polk County West started their first offensive drive with a 10 play drive that stalled after an eight-yard loss on a sack and they were forced to punt after taking almost five minutes off the clock. Ada-Borup/West followed with a seven-play drive that stalled after a holding penalty. The Cougars punted the ball from the 37-yard line and Verdis Barber’s punt went 36 yards and rolled out of bounds at the one-yard line to pin Polk County West at their own one-yard line. The Thunder ran three plays for nine-yard and were forced to punt at the end of the quarter that was returned to the Thunder 14 yard line.
SECOND QUARTER –
Ada-Borup/West started the second quarter with the ball at the Thunder 14 and started the drive with a five-yard penalty. They answered with an 11-yard Barber run and three plays later Braiden Fetting scored on a one-yard run with 10:29 left in the half. After an extra point kick, the Cougars led 7-0.
Polk County West’s first offensive series of the quarter lasted five plays before they were forced to punt. Ada-Borup/West started the series at their own 38 yard line and after a 10-yard holding penalty and a two-yard loss, they completed a 14 yard pass from Preston Gwin to Braiden Fetting and Barber followed with a 55 yard run for a touchdown and after an extra point kick the Cougars led 14-0 halfway through the quarter. Polk County West fumbled the ball on their seventh play of the ensuing drive and the Cougars had the ball at the Thunder 31 yard line. Ada-Borup/West used a late hit penalty for a first down to extend the drive and scored three plays later on a Barber two-yard run and after the extra point kick, they led 21-0 with 64 seconds left in the half. “That hurt,” said Thunder Coach Darin Byklum. “We couldn’t get anything going and missed some blocking assignments. We struggled with our tackling and that hurt us.”
THIRD QUARTER –
Polk County West started the third quarter with the ball ran four plays and recorded two first downs and the drive was looking like it would be a good one. The play stalled after a 10-yard holding penalty and the Thunder turned the ball over on downs. Ada-Borup/West ran three plays and was forced to punt again.
Polk County West seemed to have another solid drive going when their fourth play was a 27 yard run by Gage Wavra. The Thunder struggled on the next three plays with a gain of one yard, a loss of three and a loss of 12 yards before they turned it over on downs.
FOURTH QUARTER –
Polk County West’s first drive of the fourth quarter was disastrous with a loss of seven yards, a loss of two followed by a five-yard penalty. On a third down and 14 play, they threw an incomplete pass and were forced to punt from their own 12-yard line. The punt went straight up in the air and the punt was a loss of a yard and Ada-Borup had the ball at the 11-yard line. Preston Gwin found a wide-open tight end, Avery Okroi, down the middle of the field and into the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown pass and after the extra point kick, the Cougars led 28-0 with 9:19 left in the game. Neither team moved the ball much the rest of the game and both teams put in the reserves in the final four minutes to get them a chance to play in the Fargodome and Ada-Borup held on for the 28-0 victory. “We got beat tonight,” said Thunder coach Byklum. “Give credit to Ada as they came ready to play and when they took the lead it took some things away from what we wanted to do. It stings right now, but it was another great season for the boys and we lose some great seniors.”
Polk County West ends the season with an 8-3 record and will say goodbye to 11 seniors. Ada-Borup/West improves to 10-1 on the year and will play the winner of Underwood and Breckenridge in the first round of the State Class A tournament next Saturday at Moorhead High School at 3:00 p.m.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Polk Co. West | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ada-Borup/West | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
1st Quarter
No Scoring
2nd Quarter
10:29 – Ada-Borup – Braiden Fetting 1 yard run (Almir Pinheiro kick)
6:22 – Ada-Borup – Verdis Barber 55 yard run (Almir Pinheiro kick)
1:04 – Ada-Borup – Verdis Barber 2 run (Almir Pinheiro kick)
3rd Quarter
No Scoring
4th Quarter
9:19 – Ada-Borup – Avery Okroi 11 yard pass from Preston Gwin (Almir Pinheiro kick)
| Team Stats | Polk County West | Ada-Borup/West |
| Rushing Yards | 92 | 164 |
| Passing Yards | 108 | 25 |
| Total Yards | 200 | 189 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties | 2-25 | 3-30 |
| First Downs | 12 | 11 |
Individual Stats
| Polk County West | Ada-Borup/West |
| Rushing | Rushing |
| Sam Gapp – 15-(-7) | Verdis Barber 13-96 |
| John Fontaine 10-39 | Braiden Fetting 11-60 |
| Josh Wagner 6-11 | Preston Gwin 3-(-11) |
| Gage Wavra 4-36 | Oliver Kritzberger 1-12 |
| Montana Jorgenson 1-7 | Cameron Spaeth 1-6 |
| Mike Gapp 1-4 | Oliver Marcusson 1-1 |
| Sam Modeen 1-2 | |
| Passing | Passing |
| Paul Gapp 9-15-1 | Preston Gwin 2-3-0 |
| Sam Modeen 1-3-0 | |
| Receiving | Receiving |
| John Fontaine 3-42 | Braiden Fetting 1-14 |
| Josh Wagner 3-23 | Avery Okroi 1-11 |
| Dylan Evitts 1-21 | |
| Adam Sczepanski 1-13 | |
| Gage Wavra 1-8 | |
| Jacob Larson 1-1 |
