Midgets offense curbed by Fargo South Bruins in playoff quarterfinals
Oct. 31—FARGO — Last season the Dickinson Midgets broke a five-year dry spell of failing to reach postseason play, ending their season in the semifinals. On Friday, Dickinson High School would see themselves compete in the state playoffs, in back-to-back years, led by their 13 seniors.
The Midgets (4-6), as the No.8 seed, traveled to Fargo and were defeated by the Class A No. 1 Bruins (7-3), by a wide 38-12 margin — getting revenge on DHS for last season's early exit.
Dickinson's offensive yardage of 350 kept them competitive to Fargo South's 380 yards, but turnovers would be costly. Two fumbles and an interception would lead to 17 points given up by the Midgets.
"You have to give Fargo South credit, they are a good football team," John Tuchscherer, DHS head coach, said. "And they made a few more plays than we did, but it doesn't take away from the fact that our guys went down there and were ready to play the game and got after it for four quarters."
Fargo South came out of the gates scoring on the opening drive of the game from a 54-yard pass play and would then take a two-touchdown lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first half.
Dickinson's junior quarterback Stephen Zawodny gave his best performance of the season going 8-17 for 180 yards, with two touchdown passes. Junior tight end Kaeden Krieg put the Midgets on the scoreboard from 64-yards out in a one-play drive.
The Bruins took a 21-6 lead before the half time whistle, after recovering a fumble that initiated a four play scoring drive.
The third quarter was relatively quiet, before another DHS fumble would end the third quarter with a Fargo South 23-yard field goal. In the fourth, Kreig scored another touchdown pass off a 12-play drive, but the Bruins would not let up and put a rally out of reach with two additional touchdowns late in the game.
The game came to an end with the Midgets on Fargo South's one-yard line, showing a never quit attitude that reflected the team's gritty season performance. Tuchscherer said he had no regrets and gave tremendous recognition to his team, especially the seniors that were a big part in putting Dickinson back in postseason play.
"It was another fun season," Tuchscherer said. "I couldn't be more proud of not just the effort against Fargo South, but just the season in general. You and I talked about this last week, this is the toughest part about being a coach, the finality of it all... Having to have that one last break as a group and having to say goodbye to such a good group of seniors that have had a really great two-year run in our program and done so many great things for our program."
