Chargers fall to Falcons in state quarterfinal

The Goodridge/Grygla football team learned Thursday night that there is a level between the good teams and great teams when the 10-1 Chargers suffered a 35-6 loss the second-ranked Fertile-Beltrami Falcons, who improved to 12-0 with the win.

“Sometimes you meet a team that is a little higher caliber than you are,” said Goodridge/Grygla Head Coach John Wilebski. “We needed to play a near-perfect game and unfortunately, we didn’t.”

Wilebski was Goodridge/Grygla’s head coach when the team reached the football state tournament in 2010 and 2012. Both of those teams reached the state semifinals before being eliminated.

Overall, the Blue Devils/Chargers were 4-0 in state quarterfinal games heading into Thursday night’s contest with the 1989 and 1991 squads also winning their quarterfinals match-ups.

As Wilebski said, it would take a nearly perfect game on both sides of the ball to pull off an upset against the second-ranked Falcons. The Chargers got a big break on the opening kickoff when return man Joe Sorenson mishandled the ball and was brought down at the nine-yard line. The momentum would not last, however, as Fertile-Beltrami running back Isaiah Wright shot through a small hole on a trap play to his left and raced into the end zone for a 91-yard touchdown run. The two-point run failed and the score remained 6-0 Falcons.

Blake Rychlock and Lewis Jones combined to gain six yards on the first two plays from scrimmage on the Chargers’ first possession of the game. On third and four, Rychlock’s pass was incomplete and the Chargers were forced to punt.

Defensively, the Chargers have given up yards early in contests during the 2023 season before tightening things up as the game progresses. On Thursday, that appeared to be the case again.

The Falcons were 10 plays into an 11-play drive that had started at their own 25. Quarterback Caden Swenby took the snap from the Charger five-yard line on a fourth and goal play that would set the tone for the remainder of the game. Swenby bought some time with his legs, eluded the Charger pass rush, and found Derek Sorenson in the end zone to give the Falcons a 12-0 lead. The conversion attempt again failed.

The Chargers moved the ball on their second possession, but the drive stalled around midfield with three consecutive incomplete passes.

After turning the ball over on downs, the Chargers got the ball back after a rare fumble by Swenby. The Chargers got to start in plus territory at the Falcons’ 47-yard line and they picked up four first downs to set up a first and goal at the 10-yard line one play into the second quarter.

The Falcons’ defense stood tall with its back to the goal line and held the Chargers to five yards on their first three goal-to-go attempts. On fourth and goal, the Chargers put the ball in Rychlock’s hands. The senior quarterback used his feet to get out of trouble a couple times on the big fourth down play, but he couldn’t find any open receivers being sacked for an 11-yard loss.

The Falcons threatened to break the game open on their next possession. The Falcons were eight plays into the drive with a fresh set of downs at the Charger 15-yard line when they were flagged for a chop block penalty that pushed them back to the 25. The Falcons eventually turned the ball over on downs at the Charger 16 with 4:57 left in the half.

The Chargers went three and out offensively but got the ball back quickly as freshman Sawyer Jacobson picked off Swenby and returned the interception to the Chargers’ 45-yard line.

With 1:57 remaining in the half, the Chargers had two goals – score and don’t leave any time for the Falcons to answer. They accomplished one of the two goals, by running eight plays and taking all 1:57 off the clock to head into the locker room down 12-0.

The Chargers were in the game at the half and a big drive from their offense to start the third quarter would go a long ways toward pulling off the upset. Instead, they went three and out and punted on a fourth and 10 from their own 27.

The Falcons, who had been shut down their final three possessions of the first half, regained their first quarter form with Wright again finding nothing but green field turn in front of him on a 60-yard touchdown run. Swenby completed a pass to Preston Hanson for the two-point conversion to give the Falcons a 20-0 lead.

The Chargers gained nine yards on three plays to begin the ensuing drive. Down three scores and facing a fourth and one at their own 44, the Chargers opted to go for it. Senior Kehan Nelson attempted to get to the corner on the fourth and one play and was tackled for a four-yard loss by Fertile-Beltrami defensive back Caleb Sather.

The Falcons kept the momentum going after Sather’s big play and pieced together a six-play, 40-yard drive that ended with an nine-yard touchdown run by Bryer Strem.

The Chargers moved the ball on their next possession but ultimately turned it over as Rychlock was picked off by Joe Sorenson. Already up 28-0, the Falcons added to their lead with an 11-play, 95-yard drive that was aided by two personal foul penalties (called on contact to a receiver’s helmet) and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Charger bench. The Falcons’ final score of the game came on a six-yard run by Swenby, with Easton Petry adding the extra point.

The Chargers recovered the ensuing kickoff at the Falcons’ 45-yard line and put together their only scoring drive of the game. Rychlock completed all three passes he attempted on the drive and he scored on a one-yard run with 4:04 left to play. The two-point run failed.

Both teams put in substitutes on the Falcons’ ensuing possession.

“The injuries to key players we acquired in the section championship game were too much for the Chargers to overcome in this state quarterfinal game,” Wilebski said. “But what a memorable season it was for the 2023 Goodridge-Grygla Chargers football team. Such great support from the schools and community and thankful for such wonderful student-athletes and the coaching staff. What an awesome and fun season.”

Big O against Big D

The 35-points surrendered by the Chargers are the most they gave up in a game this season. Their previous high was 20 in the season-opener against Ottertail Central. Overall, the Chargers allowed an average of 8.0 points per game in the regular season and 9.0 points per game through the section tournament.

Likewise, 35 points scored was a season-low for the Falcons, who averaged 51.0 points through two playoff games and 53.0 points in the regular season. The Falcons’ previous low was 42 points against Border West and Warren-Alvarado-Oslo.

Fertile-Beltrami, OTC play on

The Goodridge/Grygla Chargers finished the 2023 season with a 10-2 record and both losses were to state tournament teams that won quarterfinal games on Thursday.

Ottertail Central remained unbeaten with a 28-8 win over Cedar Mountain at Buffalo High School it faces Nevis in the state semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 16.

The Falcons, meanwhile, face Kingsland in the state semifinals after defeating the Chargers.

Scoring

1 2 3 4 T

G/G 0 0 0 6 6

Fertile-Beltrami 12 0 16 7 35

First Quarter

FB – Isaiah Wright 91-yard run (run failed)

FB – Derek Sorenson 5-yard pass from Caden Swenby (pass failed)

Second Quarter

No scoring

Third Quarter

FB – Wright 60-yard touchdown (Swenby pass to Preston Hanson)

FB – Bryer Strem 9-yard run (Swenby run)

Fourth Quarter

FB – Caden Swenby 6-yard run (Easton Petry kick)

4:04 – GG – Blake Rychlock 1-yard run (run failed)

Team Statistics

• First downs – GG 6; FB 16.

• Fumbles (total-lost) – GG 0-0; FB 1-1.

• Penalties (number-yards) – GG 8-80; FB 4-50.

• Punts (number-average) – Away GG 3-25.3; FB N/A.

• Rushing (attempts-yards) – GG 103; FB 382.

• Passing – GG 47; FB 48.

• Total yards – FB 430; GG 150.

Individuals

• Rushing – (GG) Lewis Jones 1-3; Blake Rychlock 16-52, TD; Kehan Nelson 12-22; Carson Rubischko 5-27; (FB) Isaiah Wright 17-241, 2 touchdowns; Caden Swenby 8-52, 1 touchdown; Bryer Strem 7-35, 1 touchdown; Creed Tollefson 3-18; Steven Sather 2-22; Caleb sather 2-5; Easton Petery 1-6; Gavin Aakhus 1-3.

• Passing – (GG) Blake Rychlock 7-for-17, 54 yards, interception; (FB) Caden Swenby 5-for7, 48 yards, interception.

• Receiving – (GG) Carson Rubischko 3-8; Owen Larson 2-29; Kehan Nelson 1-1; Shay Jacobson 1-7; Lewis Jones 1-14 yards; (FB) Bryer Strem 3-28; Preston Hanson 1-15; Derek Sorenson 1-5.

• Tackles – (GG) Blake Rychlock 10, Carson Rubischkko 9, Gavin Aune 8, Owen Larson 6, Lewis Jones 5, Donny Johnsrud 4, Sebastian Groven 4, Kehan Nelson 3, Sawyer Jacobson 3, Brett Rychlock 2, Spencer Coan 1, Trustin Wiseth 1, Brandon Burns 1, Shay Jacobson 1, Brody Rystad 1, Luke Paulson 1.

• Interceptions – Sawyer Jacobson 1.

• Fumble recoveries – Blake Rychlock 1.

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