Week 3 | Forreston vs Dakota
Forreston -
Coming off a devastating loss to Lena-Winslow just the week before, the Forreston had another state ranked opponent coming to town, hoping to give the Cards another shock. This time, it was the Dakota Indians and their #11 ranking trying to knock off the #3 Cardinals in the Northwest Game of the Week. Could the Indians catch the Cards reeling from a close defeat, or would Forreston come out looking to put the doubts behind them!
Dakota opened the game with what looked to be a very nice, long sustained drive, as they started from their own 28 yard line and marched to the Forreston 37 yard line, but held in check by 3 penalties for 20 yards, the Indians would turn the ball over on downs after chewing up 6:07 off the clock. Unfortunately for the Indians, and the fans that were hoping to see a close ball game, the very next play saw Forreston's AJ Christensen take the ball to his right, cut to the outside, and just like that he was in the end zone 62 yards later to put Forreston on top 6-0.
And just like that, the wheels fell off for Dakota, as their next possession saw them go 3 and out, punt, and then quickly give up a 66 yard TD run to Evan Kelsey, and after the Christensen 2 point conversion, Forreston held a 14-0 lead with 2:24 remaining in the 1st quarter.
Before Dakota would begin moving the ball again, Christensen scored his 2nd TD of the night to start off the 2nd quarter, as he darted in from 10 yards to extend the Forreston lead to 22-0 after an Ethan Mulder 2 point conversion.
Christensen would punch it one more time from 9 yards out to give Forreston a 28-0 lead at the half. However, Christensen wasn't done yet, as he had one more show to give on the night. Opening up the 2nd half receiving the ball, Dakota squib kicked a ball that found its way to the Cardinal 20 yard line. Christensen picked it up, avoided one tackler, found a seem, and took it to the house on an 80 yard kickoff return pushing Forreston's lead to 34-0 just 20 seconds into the 2nd half.
Garett Badertscher would add one more score for the Cards and put Dakota on a running clock for the remainder of the game, as the Cards left no doubt who the better team was running away from the Indians 40-0.
On the night, Christensen finished with 5 carries for 89 yards, 3 rushing TD's, and an 80 yard return TD. Gavin Fuchs would have a game high 105 yards on 5 carries to help lead the Cardinal rushing attack to 352 yards on the night. Evan Kelsey added another 74 yards on 6 carries and a score. Kelsey also added 2 INT on defense to help clinch the shutout for the Cardinals.
Dakota struggled the majority of the game trying to get things going, as they strung together 36 yards rushing and 168 yards passing for a total of 204 yards. Kyle Bordner led the Indians going 12-22 for 168 yards throwing the ball, but had 3 INT in Forreston territory. His leading receiver was Carter Drake, who hauled in 6 passes for 88 yards.
Up Next:
Forreston (2-1) @ EPC (3-0) | Dakota (2-1) vs East Dubuque (1-2)