Thunder Football Drops Season Opener

Aug 31

Tom Urbanski

The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Thunder Football team lost 21-6 to defending conference champion Central Lakes College in the season opening game for both teams on Saturday, August 28.

The game was held at St. Cloud State University as part of the annual Kick-off Classic for teams in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference. Central Lakes College is the defending conference champion.

The Thunder challenged the defending champions throughout out the game, missing out on scoring chances early in the game with two dropped passes in the end zone and a third dropped pass on a wide-open play. Thunder defensive end Damondtaye Gaines of AlBrook recovered a Central Lakes fumble on the second play of the game to put the Thunder in good field position.

The Thunder kept the game close, trailing 15-0 going into the fourth quarter. Despite dropping the season opening game, the Thunder squad had some notable performances.

Freshman quarterback Cody Anderson of AlBrook completed 6 passes in 7 attempts for 110 yards passing, with one interception. Anderson also scored the Thunder’s only touchdown on a one-yard running play. Thunder freshman receiver Ronrico Ragsdale of Milwaukee led the way with five receptions for 75 yards and five first downs. Thunder freshman running back Karus Cornett of Racine gained 33 yards on 13 carries. The Thunder totaled 41 yards rushing and 146 passing during the game.

Running the ball was the game plan for Central Lakes as they ground out 243 rushing yards on 39 attempts. Central Lakes only attempted four passes during the game, completing two.

“Season-opening games are special, the players finally get to face a real opponent and the coaches get to evaluate the team in action,” said Thunder Head Coach Keith Turner. “We have a young team this year, so getting into a game is a real eye-opener. Moving forward, we need to become more physical, especially at the point of attack. There’s no reason we can’t improve a few things in practice during the week and be ready to play games on the weekend.”

The Thunder’s home opener is this Saturday, September 4, as they host Minnesota State-Fergus Falls with a 4:00 p.m. kickoff at Bromberg Field in Cloquet.

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