After making a defensive stop to start overtime, there was little suspense in Thief River Falls' play calling during the Prowlers' extra-session offensive possession in Friday's season opening high school football game at Crookston.
If Thief River Falls was going to score on a four-play series from the Crookston 10-yard line, only two players - either 6-0, 205-pound junior fullback Kaleb Torgerson or 5-6, 130-pound senior kicker Jerry Guerrero - were going to have the opportunity to pick up the points.
As it turned out, three straight bulldozer-like runs by Torgerson put the ball in the end zone, giving the visitors a key 20-14 Heart O' Lakes and Section 8AAA victory.
"We weren't going to be very fancy when we got the ball in overtime," admitted Thief River Falls coach Jeff Mumm. "We were going to give it to our fullback. If he didn't get in, then we were ready to kick it."
Thief River Falls had that option because, after winning the coin toss to determine the overtime sequence, the Prowlers went on defense and promptly forced a first down Crookston fumble that was recovered by Logan Kennedy.
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It was an exciting finish to a game that looked at the outset might be a blowout after the Prowlers jumped out to a 14-0 lead just 3:52 into the contest.
Thief River Falls struck quickly when running back Ralph Williams broke through the line off right tackle and out-ran the Crookston defense for an 80-yard touchdown on the third play of the night.
Guerrero added the kick.
Crookston's first offensive possession ended on an interception when Jacob Mattison picked off Mark Bittner at the Thief River Falls 35 and returned the ball down the right sidelines to the Pirates' 7.
On the very next play, quarterback Micah Schneider lobbed a pass to the left side that Williams pulled in for a touchdown. Guerrero added the kick for a 14-0 head start.
Crookston regrouped, however, and took over for most of the game until the overtime.
"We started off really well," said Mumm, "but after that, Crookston owned us on defense. They're a good team, and they showed it."
The Pirates cut the Prowlers' lead in half on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an Austin Proulx 12-yard touchdown run and an Anthony Caputo kick with 50 seconds into the second quarter.
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A Caputo fumble recover at the Crookston 45 turned into a six-play, game-tying scoring strike when fullback Josh Edlund reached the end zone on a four-yard dive with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter.
"It was a good football game," said Mumm. "We made some mistakes, and we may be moving some kids around. But we'll be okay. I'd rather be 1-0 and 0-1."
Thief River Falls will be on the road again Friday with a trip to Warroad.
