Nick Erickson is finding his comfort zone running the East Grand Forks Senior High offense.
The junior had a pair of firsts Friday -- his first 100-yard passing and 100-yard rushing games. That sparked the Green Wave to a 32-8 football win against visiting Park Rapids.
Erickson, making his third start of the season, was 5-of-8 passing for 111 yards and gained 107 rushing yards on 23 carries.
"I'm getting used to starting, playing more,'' Erickson said. "I feel a little more comfortable. And I have so much confidence in my line, my backs, everybody. Execution was the big thing tonight.''
It was a tale of two halves for Erickson's production. He was 5-of-6 passing in the first half for all his aerial yardage. His longest connection came against a big Panthers rush, when Erickson found Jake Kallock open for a 54-yard catch-and-run play. That set up the Wave's first touchdown, a 20-yard Ryan Boushee run.
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Then, in the second half, Erickson attempted only two passes, but rushed for 98 yards.
"Nick is really starting to come into his own,'' Senior High coach Scott Oliver said. "This was definitely his best game.
"Park Rapids had eight guys in the box in the first half. We had to throw to loosen them up, and Nick was very accurate. They didn't have so many people up front in the second half, so we had more room to run.''
Boushee added 85 yards on the ground for the Green Wave, including touchdown runs of 10 and 20 yards.
Erickson's 100-yard games weren't the only firsts for Senior High.
Tom Hajicek hit a pair of field goals, his first of the season. It was the first home win of the year for the 3-4 Green Wave. And Senior High had a season-high four takeaways.
The takeaways led to possessions on which Senior High scored three touchdowns and a field goal.
The biggest takeaway was on special teams. Park Rapids fumbled a punt, which Boushee recovered on the Panthers' 15-yard line with 59 seconds left in the second quarter. That set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Erickson to Ryan Brown, giving the Wave a 16-0 lead with 38 seconds left in the first half.
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In addition to the takeaways, the Senior High defense limited Park Rapids, 2-5, to 96 yards in total offense. Forrest Drury rushed for 72 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
"The kids were assignment sharp on defense,'' Oliver said. "That allowed us to make a lot of big plays.''
