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CAVALIER, N.D. – Cavalier dominated teams in the regular season, jumping out to a quick lead and cruising the rest of the way.
That didn’t happen on Saturday in the semifinal round of the North Dakota Class B 9-man quarterfinal round.
Mayville-Portland-CG received an 11-yard scoring run from Xyler Carlson on the Patriots’ opening possession for an early 8-0 lead.
The Tornadoes eventually regrouped and went on to a 32-14 win, a victory that advances Cavalier to next Saturday’s semifinal round game against defending state champion LaMoure-Litchville-Marion. The game will be in LaMoure.
“We really got off to a slow start,” said Cavalier coach Mitch Greenwood. “Mayville got the ball, marched right down the field and scored. And then we had a three-and-out on our first possession. It’s not the start we wanted.
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“But after that, we settled down and played better.”
Jacob Steele put the Tornadoes on the board with a 2-yard scoring run in the second quarter. Landon Carter followed, hauling in a 34-yard TD strike from Sterling Enerson. Another 16-yard Enerson-to-Carter scoring pass closed out the first half and a Cavalier 20-8 led.
Enerson scored both Cavalier TDs in the second half. He ran for a 1-yard score and a 21-yard score.
MPCG’s second TD came on a Noah Mehus 70-yard kickoff return.
Cavalier spent the week leading up to the game working on some new wrinkles.
“We’ve done a little bit with read options and speed options with our quarterback,” said Greenwood. “We put in some new plays during the week and he made some nice reads. Those plays opened up some other things for us.”
Cavalier is familiar with its semifinal opponent – LaMoure-L-M. The Loboes beat Cavalier 42-14 in last season’s 9-man title game.
“I would think the game is going to be a slugfest,” said Greenwood.
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Earlier this season, L-M-M beat May-Port 30-26.
“We watched a lot of Maville-Portland film this week and they played (LMM) tough,” said Greenwood. “We have a lot of respect for them. But our guys won’t be intimidated down there.”
Cavalier’s win also produced another stat: Cavalier seniors went 27-0 on their home field during their careers.
“That was pretty special,” said Greenwood.
North Prairie 46, Westhope-Newburg 20
North Prairie continued its dominant season with a 46-20 win over Westhope-Newburg in Saturday’s Class B 9-man quarterfinal round,
The Cougars improved to 10-0 and will take on New Salem-Almont in next Saturday’s semifinals.
WNG scored first on a Hunter Braaten 1-yard run.
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The game was tied 14-14 at the half, but North Prairie scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away.
Blake Mattson rushed for 200 yards on 22 carries for North Prairie. He scored four TDs. Nicholas Mears complemented Mattson, finishing with 170 rushing yards on 13 carries and two TDs.
