FARGO -- Grand Forks Red River earned a piece of the Eastern Dakota Conference football title on Wednesday night. Fargo South has itself a date with one of the top teams in the state.
A 13-yard touchdown pass by Roughriders quarterback Tyler Steen to Mitchell Anderson with 1 minute, 3 seconds remaining lifted Red River to a 14-7 victory against the Bruins, earning the team a No. 2 seed and a home game for the first round of the North Dakota Class AAA playoffs.
Red River will host Mandan, and Fargo South will travel to No. 2-ranked Bismarck Century the opening round of the postseason on Oct. 29.
"It definitely wasn't the way it was drawn up," Steen said. "South played good defense and we had to go to some different plays that we weren't really used to running. We had to throw the ball a little more. That's how we do it. Every game is not going to be a blowout, but we are going to grind it out and give us a chance to win the game."
The Roughriders (6-3, 5-1 EDC) had everything working early. Red River used a grinding running game with running back Logan Ferry, and a short passing attack to work the ball 77 yards for a touchdown on its opening drive to take a 6-0 lead.
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Running back Dayton Marek, nursing an ankle injury, plowed into the end zone from 3 yards out to put the Roughriders on the board.
Red River's defense stuffed the Bruins' strong running game, forcing the team to look to the air.
South quarterback Austyn Raftevold hit several shots downfield and finished 16 of 31 for 175 passing yards.
A 20-yard strike from Raftevold to running back Zach Reich, and an extra point by Jacob Weiler, put South ahead 7-6 with 7:48 remaining in the third quarter.
"To be honest, with the start we had we are happy to be in the playoffs," said South coach Troy Mattern, whose team finished the regular season 4-5 despite opening the year 0-4. "We are very excited to go out to Bismarck Century. We are just excited to play another football game. We feel like we have improved immensely since the beginning of the season, so we are going to go out and give them a run."
It was a back-and-forth battle from there, with both teams trading shots.
Each team missed a few opportunities down the stretch until Red River came up with the decisive drive late in the fourth quarter.
Steen helped engineer a 14-play, 84-yard drive that took precious time off the clock and ended with the go-ahead pass to Anderson in the corner of the end zone.
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The win was Red River's first against South in 17 seasons. It's the third time in school history that the Roughriders have earned at least a share of the EDC championship.
"We set our goal to be EDC champs," Steen said. "Even if we are a No. 2 seed, we have home field for the first round of the playoffs. That is something we will remember for the rest of our lives."
