FDLTCC Falls To Ridgewater 7-6

Wes Vork-NSO

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Oct 10

Kerry Rodd-NSO

CLOQUET – At times, Saturday’s football game between the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Thunder and Ridgewater Community College Warriors resembled a game of hot potato. Each team was provided with many opportunities, but each team squandered their chances until finally both scored in the final quarter with Ridgewater winning 7-6.

The game was played in 20 degree weather with a howling wind blowing out of the north. Field position was strategic and finally played a big part in the outcome of the game. The Thunder kicked off in the first quarter and had the wind at their back. However, they were unable to take advantage of it and the same thing happened in the second quarter for the Warriors. In fact, most of the game was played between the 30 yard lines as neither team could do much offensively. The defensive lines were superb and the FDLTCC line was particularly impressive. Terrance Neal, Nick Chandler and Jordan Berglund were relentless in their attack of Ridgewater quarterback Jackson Illies.

The two teams decided that it was better to give than receive in the second and third quarters as each continually gave the ball back to the opposition by way of fumble. In fact, many times the fumbles occurred without a hit occurring or a defender reaching in and stripping the ball away from the offensive player.

Ridgewater caught a break with a couple of big plays that brought them down to the five yard line of the Thunder right at the beginning of the final quarter. The wind was at their back and just 1:37 into the final stanza Illies threw a touchdown strike to Shane Black in back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead. The Warriors then booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The Thunder answered less than a minute later when quarterback Rumeal Carlton hit Branden Peterson streaking down the left sideline for a 50-yard touchdown to cut the margin to 7-6. Peterson, who was kicking in place of Derek Benson who broke his leg last week, then hit the extra point kick for what appeared to be a tie game. Unfortunately for the Thunder, they were caught with a man short and were caught for a motion penalty causing them to be pushed back to the 10-yard line. Peterson’s extra point attempt was caught in the wind and fell short leaving it 7-6.

As the final minutes played out in the game the Thunder twice tried to rally their way to a win, but they ended up in fourth and long situations and were unable to convert as the Warriors were able to kneel on the ground and take the win.

Fond du Lac falls to 2-5 overall and the Warriors improved to 3-4 on the season.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com