FARGO -- Even beneath the roof of the Fargodome, a couple of senior stars shined brightly on both sides of the ball for Fargo South on Friday.
Griffin Neal gathered over 300 yards of total offense and linebacker Connor Schweitzer forced three turnovers as the Bruins defeated Grand Forks Central 41-20 in Eastern Dakota Conference football.
"He's just a great quarterback," Bruins' first-year head coach Troy Mattern said of Neal. "To be able to have that ability in high school and to see the field as he does, it just makes us a better team."
South ambushed the Knights early. The offense chewed up a lot of turf while controlling time of possession for the majority of the first quarter. A 25-yard touchdown from Brock Larson capped a 92-yard South drive to open the game.
Schweitzer followed by picking off Central quarterback Gage Salquist to give the Bruins the ball in enemy territory. He would later add a fumble recovery and a forced fumble for South.
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"Defense was great," South wide receiver Andrew Okland said. "Three turnovers, all by the same player actually, that was pretty awesome."
Okland was pretty awesome himself. The senior receiver finished with 111 yards while hauling in three of Neal's five touchdowns.
"Me and Griffin really connected well tonight," Okland said. "We knew we were going against some shorter corners, so we knew if he could get the ball up high where I could get it."
Neal also led the team's ground attack, amassing 70 yards on a pair of carries.
"I thought we had a good balance," Mattern said. "We were able to throw the ball and we were able to run the ball."
"I thought our passing game was wonderful, our line blocked well ... and Griffin Neal put the ball on the money all night."
Chad Goering led the Knights' offense with 112 yards rushing. Tyler Haug added 63 yards on 17 carries for Central (0-4, 0-2 EDC).
The Bruins (4-0, 2-0 EDC) put their undefeated record on the line next week when they hit the road against Minot.
