Week 3 | Forreston vs Dakota
Dakota- The Forreston Cardinals and Dakota Indians squared off in what was the Northwest Game of the Week. The anticipation was high all week. Forreston, coming off a dominating loss to Lena-Winslow, and the Indians high powered defense had Dakota off to a 2-0 start.
Dakota won the coin toss and elected to receive, fully prepared to take control of the game early as coach Free had stated all week. Dakota started with good field position but quickly went three and out, punting to Forreston.
Forreston drove the ball 89 yards and capped off the drive with a 20 yard touchdown run from Cailean Davids, giving the Cardinals a quick 6-0 lead. After a successful onside kick, Forreston had great field position, that saw the drive go 54 yards ending in a 5 yard Dom Christensen touchdown run. The score gave the Cardinals a 14-0 lead after the successful 2-point conversion.
The Indians were never able to get the ground game going the way they had hoped. Dakota quickly went three and out again giving the Cardinals the ball and an opportunity to take control. The Cardinals went 65 yards that ended in a 3 yard touchdown run by Garett Badertscher.
Dakota started to move the ball, but ultimately had a drive die deep in Forreston territory, ending the threat. It was after a turnover of downs by Forreston with 1:48 left until halftime, that Dakota was finally able to get it in the end zone on the legs of Josh Clark after he had two runs of 15 yards and a 32 yard pass completion to Wyatt Rockey.
Forreston wasted no time regaining momentum out of halftime, taking the ball 67 yards in a little over 4 minutes on the legs of Hunter Rogers for a 2 yard TD run. Forreston would get the ball back to start the 4th quarter, where Evan Kelsey found paydirt on a 57 yard touchdown run that took whatever wind Dakota had left in their sails, giving Forreston a commanding 34-7 lead.
Dakota finally put together a quick drive on the arm of Josh Clark, and hands of Carter Drake, going 61 yards that ended with a 2 yard touchdown on the legs of Josh Clark. Dakota would add a final score from Cade Kloster of 30 yards. Forreston doubled up Dakota 40-20. The Forreston Cardinals had 489 yards of offense led on the legs of Evan Kelsey for 133, while Garett Badertscher added 120. Dom Christensen also chipped in 98 yards on 11 carries for the Cardinals.
The Dakota Indians were led on the ground by Josh Clark with 46 yards a 2 touchdowns and also threw for 110 yards.
Up Next:
Forreston (2-1) vs EPC (3-0)
Dakota (2-1) @ East Dubuque (1-2)