August 22, 2012

Wolves host Heart River to open football season

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

After struggling to a 3-5 record last season, Fred Fridley is hoping that the Watford City Wolves football team will rebound this year and make a return to the Class A playoffs.
“We will be a young team again this year with a lot of underclassmen seeing action,” states Fridley. “But we will also be returning quite a few starters from last year which will give us a good nucleus to build a good season around.”
According to Fridley, the Wolves will be returning nine starters on the offensive side of the ball and nine starters returning from last year’s defensive team.
Returning to the offensive line are seniors Davis Zubke, Cole Rolfsrud  and Nate Egeberg along with juniors Mitchell Liebel and Andrew Sampsel.
“In the receiving core, we return Tyler Bates and Brandon Stoker, who are both seniors,” states Fridley.
The big question mark for the Wolves’ offense this season will be at the quarterback position where Fridley is pinning his hopes on Keegan Thompson, a sophomore.
“We have some size in the offensive line and that should be our strength,” states Fridley.
And with a solid offensive line doing its job, Fridley says that it will make Thompson’s job easier and provide for more running room for Josh Rolfsrud and Austin Garmann in the backfield. According to Fridley, Kolton Hall, Dalton Wright and Casey Bellar will also be seeing action in Watford City’s backfield.
On the defensive side of the ball, Fridley says the Wolves will have a solid core of players returning with six to seven players seeing action up front with Tyler Bates, Brice Brenno and Shane Jorgenson, who are all seniors, along with sophomore Daniel Marmon returning in the secondary.
“With the experience that we have back, I believe that the Wolves can be a good football team on both sides of the ball,” states Fridley. “We need to get better each week. We’re going to have to improve with each practice and each game to meet our goal of making the playoffs this year.”
Watford City will open its 2012 football season on Friday, Aug. 24 when  the Wolves host the Heart River Cougars at 7 p.m. at Fridley Field. The Cougars defeated the Wolves last season 39-6.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER