Thunder Football Gets First Win Of The Season

Wes Vork-NSO

Sept 12

Kerry Rodd-NSO

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CLOQUET – It took just three plays from offense for the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College football team to score on Saturday against Minnesota West Community and Technical College. Logan Wells darted off right tackle and went 71 yards for a touchdown to help send the Thunder to their first victory of the season 25-0 over the Blue Jays.

“Our defense played extremely well,” said defensive coordinator Dave Wilson after the game in a radio interview on WKLK. “The guys really got to the ball and made them work for everything.”

With the Thunder leading 6-0 in the second quarter, quarterback Rumeal Carlton hit Branden Peterson down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown pass as Peterson leaped over the defenders and caught the ball over his shoulder for a 12-0 halftime lead.

Most of the first half saw the Thunder in ball protection mode as they pounded the ball at the Blue Jays with seven different players touching the ball. Wells became the workhorse of the group when the Thunder lost league leading rusher March Jones to a high ankle sprain. Wells, who finished with 120 yards in the game, attacked the defense with his size while a variety of backs used speed to get to the outside. In all, the Thunder rushed for nearly 250 yards on offense.

The only scoring of the third quarter came when Darian McGee blocked a punt by the Blue Jays at the 8-yard line and then had the blocked ball pop right into his arms as he scampered in for the score making it 18-0. Derek Benson of Barnum made the extra point kick, giving the Thunder a 19-0 edge.

The Thunder’s final score came when Carlton hooked up with Josh Fleming in the left corner of the end zone on a play where Fleming out dueled a couple of defenders for the ball.

Fond du Lac is now 1-2 on the season. The Thunder will look to get back to the .500 mark on Saturday when they travel to Rochester to take on RTCC in a 4:00pm game.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at Kerry@northlandsportsonline.com