Bowman County defeat Nedrose to advance in 11B playoffs

Oct. 24—The NDHSAA 11B playoffs got underway Saturday with eight games going on across the state.

One of them was held in Bowman County as the Bulldogs hosted Minot Nedrose to get their playoff run underway.

Points and yards were hard to come by in the windy conditions in the southwest corner of the state but Bowman County built a strong lead on their way to a 20-14 victory.

The Bulldogs held a 20-0 lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals put up two scores towards the end of the game to make Bowman County sweat out the final minutes.

Bowman County had the ball deep in Nedrose territory up 20-7 on the drive following a Cardinals touchdown, looking to put the game away with another score. However, the Bulldogs fumbled inside the five-yard line to give Nedrose life when they should've put them away for good.

"We've been positive in the turnover margin the last few games," Walker said. "Today we found a way to win against a good football team."

Despite the success the Bulldogs have had throughout the year in the air, it was a run-heavy game plan as the strong winds and stout Cardinal defense held their own against a dangerous offense.

"We came out for warm-ups and that wind was howling," Walker said. "We were able to get a score going into it in the first quarter and missed a couple of long opportunities in the second and that's what made it close at the end."

Up 13-0 towards the end of the first half, Walker elected to use all three of his timeouts to preserve the clock as he saw an opportunity for a quick score, something that was hard to come by, with Nedrose pinned inside their own 30-yard line.

They got the ball back with plenty of time for a drive, but ended up turning the ball over on downs and settled for a 13-0 halftime lead.

The passing game wasn't hitting its stride Saturday afternoon but it did lead to the first score of the game. Bowman County quarterback Quaid Lardy found wide receiver Clay Heimer on a screen over the middle on fourth down from the Nedrose 21-yard line and ran in to open the scoring 6-0.

Before the two late touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs defense was giving up next to nothing to the Cardinals. It led to Nedrose attempting a fake punt in the second quarter on their own half of the field to try and jumpstart the offense, but it failed and Bowman County were set up with a short field.

The Bulldogs didn't capitalize on the next possession, but they would add a score later in the quarter from running back Bishop Duffield finding his way into the end zone from five yards out.

He added another touchdown in the third quarter from a yard out to make it 20-0.

Later on, Nedrose finally put up points as quarterback Josh Kalamaha found receiver Reese Richter on a goal-to-go situation from the five-yard line to cut into the deficit 20-7. They made another stop on defense and went down the field for another touchdown, with a fortunate bounce.

Kalamaha threw to wide receiver Keaton Cole down the left side of the field from 30 yards out, but Bowman County defensive back Teigen Mormon was lurking. He went up to intercept the ball, but it slipped out of his hands and into the chest of Cole who strolled into the end zone to make it 20-14 with just three minutes to play.

The Bulldogs needed just one first down to run out the clock, as the Cardinals were out of timeouts. On third down, Duffield found room to his left and got enough yardage to move the sticks and end the game.

On the other side of the bracket, Des Lacs-Burlington defeated Bismarck Shiloh Christian 14-7 and will visit Bowman County next Saturday in the quarterfinals.

"We have to get back to who we are," Walker said. "We've had emotional weeks and now we have to get back to what we do. We'll hopefully be able to play another week after next week. We're in the quarterfinals now and our kids are excited for what we have coming up."

SCORING

NC — 0 0 0 14 14

BC — 6 7 7 0 20

First Quarter

BC — Clay Heimer 21 yard pass from Quaid Lardy (extra point no good), 6-0

Second Quarter

BC — Bishop Duffield 5 yard run (extra point good), 13-0

Third Quarter

BC — Duffield 1 yard run (extra point good), 20-0

Fourth Quarter

NC — Reese Richter 5 yard pass from Josh Kalamaha (extra point good), 20-7

NC — Keaton Cole 30 yard pass from Kalamaha (extra point good), 20-14