Warren-Alvarado-Oslo’s defense forced 5 Stephen-Argyle turnovers, as the Ponies defeated the Storm 14-6 in a Section 8 9-man semifinal played in Warren. Brandon Miller led the way for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo’s offense rushing for 160 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
First Quarter-
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo set the tone with their first offensive drive. After Stephen-Argyle’s offense failed to convert on fourth down, turning the ball over to the Ponies on the WAO 25-yard line. Four plays later, Brandon Miller broke two tackles in the backfield and burst free down the far sideline sprinting across the goal line for a 48-yard touchdown. Miller ran a sweep play into the endzone on the ensuing play for the two-point conversion giving the Ponies an 8-0 lead with 4:21 to play in the first quarter. “Our offensive line did the work,” said Miller. “I just did what I needed to do. It was fun, I loved every moment of it.”
Second Quarter-
Stephen-Argyle’s offense turned to their senior tailback to answer the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo score on the next drive. Stephen-Argyle’s drive started on their own 36-yard line.  The Storm marched the ball methodically down the field before facing a fourth-and-6 from the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 11. On fourth down, running back Dawson Feuillerat received the handoff and was hit behind the line of scrimmage, but shrugged off a tackler and stretched a run to the sideline before turning upfield and sneaking inside the pylon for an 11-yard touchdown. The Storm’s two-point conversion failed as the running play was stopped short of the goal line as Warren-Alvarado-Oslo maintained an 8-6 lead with 11:46 to play in the first half.
Both defenses played tough the remainder of the first half with neither side’s offense reaching the red zone the remainder of the first half as the Ponies took an 8-6 lead into halftime.
Third Quarter-
The Ponies’ first drive of the second half stalled with a three-and-out but the ensuing Brandon Miller punt fumbled by Stephen-Argyle’s returner and recovered by Warren-Alvarado-Oslo at the Storm 20-yard line. With great field position, Brandon Miller ran in his second touchdown of the night from 5-yards out, but the two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, giving the Ponies a 14-6 lead with 5:06 to play in the third quarter. Stephen-Argyle’s fumbled punt return was a sign of things to come for the Storm.
On Stephen-Argyle’s ensuing drive, the Storm fumbled at their own 40-yard line with Warren-Alvarado-Oslo’s Gunnar Jorgenson recovering the football for the Ponies. WAO failed to capitalize on good starting field position, punting it back to Stephen-Argyle three plays later.
Fourth Quarter-
Both teams continued trading turnovers both on downs and fumbles before Stephen-Argyle had their best drive of the second half starting at their own 30-yard line with 6:05 to play trailing by 8 points. The Storm dove the ball down just outside the red zone before facing a fourth-and-6 from the 28-yard line. On fourth down, the Storm ran a toss play to the far side of the field, but Warren-Alvarado-Oslo’s defense swarmed to the football and stopped the running back short of the first down turning the ball over on downs. “The defense got after it tonight,” said Warren-Alvarado-Oslo head coach Tony Gullikson. “We’ve got to have that intensity next week. We were really aggressive. It was fun.”
Stephen-Argyle’s defense forced a quick three-and-out and punt giving the offense one last chance to score the tying touchdown with a drive starting at their own 21-yard line with 1:41 to play and no timeouts. Stephen-Argyle drove the ball across midfield, but the Storm’s fourth fumble lost in the second half dashed their hopes for a comeback as the loose ball was recovered by Warren-Alvarado-Oslo’s Kirby Kilen securing the 14-6 win for the Ponies. “They came out to play,” summarized Gullikson. “Stephen-Argyle, hats off to them. It was a hard-hitting game. A well-played game. A well-coached game on their part. I’m going to step it up next week and hopefully do a little better. What a game! We’re just excited about our kids. We’ve been on the downside of our section for the past couple of these seasons. This is just so great for these kids. I’m so proud of them. It’s the first time (reaching the Section Championship game) since we’ve been in nine-man.”
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo improves 7-3 and will play for the Section 8 championship on Thursday, October 31 in the Fargo Dome against North Central kicking-off at 3:00 P.M. with KROX’s coverage beginning at 2:30 P.M. Stephen-Argyle’s season ends with a 6-4 record.Â
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Stephen-Argyle | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Warren-A-O | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
1st Quarter
4:21 – W-A-O – Brandon Miller 48 yard run (Brandon Miller run)
2nd Quarter
11:53 – S-A – Dawson Feuillerat 11 yard run (run failed)
3rd Quarter
5:06 – W-A-O- Brandon Miller 5 yard run (pass failed)
4th Quarter
No Scoring
| TEAM STATS | Warren-A-O | Stephen-Argyle |
| Rushing Yards | 145 | 225 |
| Passing Yards | 8 | 40 |
| Total Yards | 153 | 265 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-0 | 4-4 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
| W-A-O | S-A | |
| Rushing | Rushing | |
| Brandon Miller -160 | Jason Lindgren – 146 | |
| Conner Mercil – 9 | Dawson Feuillerat – 46 | |
| Sergio Vela – 2 | Mike Jacobson – 25 | |
| Gavin Gullikson – -26 | James Pederson – 8 | |
| Brody Pietruszewski – 0 | ||
| Â | Â | |
| Passing | Passing | |
| Gavin Gullikson – 1-3-0 | Brandon Kroll – (1-1) 26 yds | |
| Brandon Miller – 0-2 | Brody Pietruszewski – (3-5) 14 yards, 1 INT | |
| Receiving | Receiving | |
| Mason Mock – 2-15 | Conner Mercil – 1-8 | |
| Jason Lindgren – 1-26 | Â | |
| Mike Jacobson – 1-(-1) | Â |
