The Crookston Pirate Football team was held to a loss of seven yards in the first half and trailed 20-0 and the Roseau Rams held on the rest of the way for a 35-12 victory in a Section 8AA matchup played in Roseau.
Roseau won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game. Roseau’s first drive went six plays before they were forced to punt and after a 27-yard punt, Crookston started the drive on their own 14-yard line. After three plays and a 30-yard punt and a 20-plus yard return, Roseau had the ball at the Crookston 30-yard line. The Rams had a nine-play drive that was capped by a Ben Olson five-yard touchdown run and after a missed extra point kick and they held a 6-0 lead with 3:19 remaining. Crookston ran three more plays and were forced to punt the ball for the second straight series. Roseau started their third offensive series at the Crookston 47-yard line and nine plays later they scored on another Olson five yard run for a 12-0 lead with 8:56 left in the half. Crookston’s third offensive possession was same as the first two with another three plays and punt. Roseau started the fourth offensive series with the ball at the Crookston 40-yard line and eight plays later they scored on an Olson 30-yard run and after a two point conversion pass, the Rams led 20-0 with under four minutes left in the half. Crookston lost seven yards on 14 plays in the first half, while Roseau had 200 yards rushing. “We just couldn’t keep going up front,” said Pirate Coach Scott Butt. “We didn’t do a very good and they took it to us and we have to do a better job offensively. We put our defense in a bad position consistently and you can’t do that.”
Crookston made a change in the second half and it seemed to work and give the team a spark as freshman quarterback, Gunnar Gunderson (5’6 118-pound freshman) came into the game and orchestrated some nice drives. The Pirates started the second half with the ball and on the second and third plays, they recorded their first and second first downs of the game. Four plays later, Crookston had a fourth down and one-yard play and handed off to Lukas Meier who ran for three yards and another Pirate first down to keep the drive going. Two plays later, Joe Doda ran for 15 yards and ran again for a one-yard touchdown and Crookston trailed 20-6 with 7:21 left in the third quarter. “That got us to a two-score deficit,” said Coach Butt. “Gunner came out and played well and Lukas and Joe ran the ball hard. We made the decision at halftime to give Gunnar a try and put Brady back on the line and that worked for us.” Crookston ran into the turnover bug when they threw an interception on the next two series and they turned it over again with a fumble and Roseau took advantage with two touchdowns five minutes apart for a 35-6 lead. Crookston started the final drive of the game at their own 31 yard line and marched the ball downfield and Crookston got the ball down to the one-yard line and Coach Butt was yelling at Gunderson to spike the ball, but Gunderson, knowing exactly what he should do, took the snap and as soon as the ball hit his hands he dove to the left and scored on the quarterback sneak for his first varsity touchdown and with 20 seconds left in the game, Roseau led 35-12. “I was yelling at him to spike it and he took it in and it was good to see him sneak it in,” said Coach Butt. “Gunner did some nice things for us and he ran the option well.” Roseau took a knee and the game was over with the Rams winning the game 35-12.
Crookston ends the regular season with a 2-6 record and will either play at Roseau or Bagley in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday, October 23 at 6:00 p.m. “Wherever we go we have to get better,” said Coach Butt. “Until we get better, it doesn’t matter where we go or who we play.” Roseau improves to 3-5 on the year and they will host a first-round playoff game on Tuesday.
Two Pirates team up to make a tackle in the second half
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | FINAL | |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Roseau | 6 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 35 |
Jaden Lubarski tries to break a tackle on a kick return
1st Quarter
3:19 – Roseau – Ben Olson 5 yard run (kick failed)
2nd Quarter
8:56 – Roseau – Ben Olson 5 yard run (pass failed)
3:43 – Roseau – Ben Olson 30 yard run (Danny Wensloff pass to Jack Hirst)
3rd Quarter
7:21 – Crox – Joe Doda 1 yard run (run failed)
4th Quarter
8:55 – Roseau – Adam LePard 3 yard run (Adam LePard run)
3:44 – Roseau – Danny Wensloff 57 yard fumble return (Hunter Nelson kick)
:20 – Crox- Gunnar Gunderson 1 yard run (run fail)
Gunnar Gunderson looks to pitch the ball Blake Fee with a tackle from behind
| CROOKSTON | Roseau | |
| First Downs | 9 | 20 |
| Rushing-Yards | 35-113 | 44-280 |
| Passing | 2-11-2 | 3-8-0 |
| Passing Yards | 22 | 22 |
| Total Yards | 135 | 302 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 1-5 | 8-90 |
| Punts-Yards Ave. | 4-32 | 1-27 |
Rushing
| Crookston | Roseau |
| Lukas Meier 13-49 | Ben Olson 19-121 |
| Joe Doda 12-50 | Adam LePard 12-73 |
| Ty Hamre 3-13 | Jaden Warne 11-58 |
| Gunnar Gunderson 3-12 | Jonathan Bender 1-18 |
| Easton Tangquist 3-(-14) | Danny Wensloff 1-10 |
| Brady Butt 1-3 |
Passing
| Gunnar Gunderson 2-6-2 22 yards | Danny Wensloff 3-8-0 22 yards |
| Brady Butt 0-3-0 | |
| Ty Hamre 0-2-0 |
Receiving
| Ty Hamre 2-22 | Jonathan Bender 1-14 |
| Adam LePard 1-4 | |
| Aiden Walsh 1-4 |
