Undefeated Cavalier found itself in an unusual position Saturday -- behind on the scoreboard.
Visiting LaMoure-L-M jumped to an 8-0 lead against the Tornadoes in the first-round game of the North Dakota Class A high school football playoffs. That was it for L-L-M, however; Cavalier had all the points the rest of the way in taking a 48-8 win.
Cavalier plays host to North Prairie next Saturday in a state quarterfinal game.
"I can remember us being behind once before all year,'' Tornadoes coach Sandy Laxdal said. "But the kids didn't get frazzled. They picked up their play.
"We made some adjustments on our defensive front and shut them down the rest of the way.''
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Jared Mack rushed for one touchdown and threw three touchdown passes to lead the Cavalier offense. Brandon Chrest had 15- and 25-yard scoring receptions, while Brady Robbins caught a 6-yard score. Mack finished 10-of-16 for 175 yards passing.
On the ground, Colby Smith had 5- and 53-yard touchdown runs. He picked up 78 yards and Brennan Thorlakson 81. Brayden Cleem also scored, on a 13-yard interception return.
"Jared had a real good game,'' Laxdal said. "He threw well, spreading the ball around and mixing up his passes.''
n North Prairie 35, Maple Valley-Enderlin 14: Special teams got North Prairie going early.
"We scored right off the bat (on Jaden Pfeifer's 80-yard opening kickoff return),'' North Prairie coach Davy Zinke said. "Then we got to their punter on fourth down and tackled him. Nick Cahill scored on the next play (on a 15-yard run) and we're up 14-0 10 minutes into the game.''
The Cougars maintained that momentum, building a 29-6 halftime lead.
Everett Lervik rushed for 103 yards, including 2- and 14-yard touchdown runs for North Prairie. Pfeifer was 6-of-11 passing for 101 yards, including an 18-yard TD to Nathan Joraanstad.
n Linton-H-M-B 22, Park River/Fordville-Lankin 14: Kelsey Larson threw for 122 yards to lead Linton-H-M-B to the home win. He had a pair of touchdown passes, of 40 yards to Tobie Wald and 21 yards to David Schuetz.
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Park River/F-L trailed 22-0 after three quarters. Chad Jelinek had touchdown runs of 2 and 25 yards to pull the Aggies close. Jelinek finished with 65 rushing yards, while Blake Erickson was 6-of-13 passing for 103 yards.
n Milnor-North Sargent 28, Rugby 14: Philip Enderson had two big plays, the difference in its win in Rugby.
Enderson returned a punt 80 yards for a score and, with Milnor-NS holding a 21-14 lead in the final quarter, got some insurance points with a 35-yard touchdown run.
Eric Kuntz rushing for 158 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown, for the Panthers.
9-man
n North Border 36, Kidder County 14: For the second straight week, North Border had a pair of 100-yard rushers in a playoff win.
Brett Dalzell ran for 117 yards and scored three touchdowns while Dylan Masloski had 19 yards and two scores for the Eagles, who improved to 7-4 with their seventh straight win.
Dalzell caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Stockton on the Eagles' first offensive play and also had 4- and 66-yard TD runs.
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"We thought we'd take a chance throwing on the first play because they loaded their defense on the line to stop the run,'' North Border coach Jeff Carpenter said. "They stayed with the same defense after that, but Brett and Dylan were running well.
"Dylan is a straight-ahead, power type. Brett is a catch-me-if-you-can, speedy type.''
North Border led 28-0 before Kidder County got on the scoreboard.
n Mott-Regent 30, North Star 24: It was a tale of two halves.
North Star led 24-16 at halftime. Jake Hagler threw for three touchdowns, two to Lance Logie, both covering 23 yards, and a 13-yarder to Matt Swanson.
But Tanner Veledahl caught a pair of 3-yard touchdown passes from McCahen Schweitzer as Mott-Regent outscored North Star 16-0 in the fourth quarter for the win.
