Wolves drop season opener, win first home game
Titus Stenberg
Farmer Sports Writer
Watford City hit the road to Casselton for their first football game of the season on Friday, Aug. 29. The Wolves lost to No. 4 Central Cass 41-14 in non-region action.
“Central Cass has four very good returning players from last year’s State Semifinal team,” said Watford City head coach, Jim Dooley. “Their QB, RB and two linemen were All-State players and they showed why on Friday. They have good athleticism, great team speed and are big and physical.”
Watford City’s defense created a turnover with a recovered fumble by Bryson Wolfe on the first play from scrimmage. The Wolves won the time-of-possession battle in the first quarter, but Central Cass scored first on the last play of the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run. The second quarter saw the Squirrels make big plays on both offense and defense as they scored three touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.
The second half was evenly matched as both teams reached the end zone twice. Watford City’s scores came in the fourth quarter. Rhylie Ledahl-Berger scored on a 2-yard TD run with 5:06 left. Four minutes later, Baylor Salas hit Wolfe for a 23-yard TD pass. Colten Lewis added the two-point conversion.
“We were in the right spot many times but just didn’t finish plays,” said Coach Dooley. “Once we adjusted to the speed and physicality of the game, I thought we played well. Unfortunately, we dug too big of a hole for ourselves by that time.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
WC 0 0 0 14 14
Central Cass 7 21 6 7 41
Watford City offense: Baylor Salas 1-of-1, 23 passing yards, TD; Wyatt Boekelman 2-of-6, 6 passing yards; Bryson Wolfe 1 reception, 23 yards, TD; Brogan Shannon 1 reception, 5 yards; Trysten DeVries 1 reception, 1 yard; Rhylie Ledahl-Berger 20 carries, 93 yards, TD; Shannon 6 carries, 30 yards; Erin Luna 1 carry, 13 yards; DeVries 7 carries, 10 yards; Boekelman 3 rushes, 10 yards; Salas 1 rush, 4 yards
Watford City defense: Konnor Winter 3 solo tackles, 1 TFL; DeVries 3 solo tackles, 3 tackle assists; Wolfe 3 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 fumble recovery; Shannon 3 solo tackles, 2 assists; Harper Moberg 3 solo tackles, 2 assists; Ayden Secrest-Pu 2 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 TFL, 1 fumble recovery
Wolves Win Big
Watford City opened their home schedule with a 39-12 win over Wahpeton last Friday. The Wolves played well on both offense and defense, rushing for 454 yards and creating six turnovers. The first half was filled with big plays. Watford City scored the first 14 points of the game with two rushing touchdowns from Rhylie Ledahl-Berger. Michael Peterson got the Huskies on the board with a 4-yard TD run with 5:37 left in the first half. With the Wolves ahead 14-6, Konnor Winter intercepted a Treyton King pass and returned it all the way to the end zone for a 26-yard pick-6 one minute before halftime. Wahpeton’s biggest play of the half occurred two plays later when King found Cooper Koolmo over the middle for a 57-yard touchdown connection.
“I was just telling someone that we looked like a pretty good defensive team,” said head coach Jim Dooley. “Unlike last year, I didn’t have to add ‘at times’ to the end of that. We had one critical mistake where we checked to the wrong coverage, and missed a few tackles when we didn’t finish, but overall, we did a nice job of limiting them to several 3- or 4-and-outs.”
The big story of the game was Watford City’s rushing offense. The 454 yards came on 49 attempts, a remarkable 9.3 yards per carry. “When we played them last year, our guys up front were not yet comfortable in our system,” said Coach Dooley. “We made a lot of mistakes in the 2024 game. This year, I think our O-line guys have a good understanding of what we are doing and could make the necessary adjustments. They ask better questions or give more pertinent information which helps get us get into the best play. The backs also blocked a lot better this week.”
After two rushing TDs in the first half, Ledahl-Berger got two more in the third quarter, a two-yarder and a 50-yarder. The exclamation point was provided with a 61-yard scoring scamper by Trysten DeVries and an extra point from Maxwell Thornock. Along with Winter’s interception, the Wolves defense got two interceptions from Carter Breitbach. DeVries recovered two fumbles and Brandon Spacher added another one. Harper Moberg made plays all over the field and led the Wolves with 8.5 tackles.
The Wolves are now 1-1 on the season and will welcome the Williston Coyotes to Fridley Field on Friday the 12th for a 7:00 PM kickoff.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
WC 8 12 12 7 39
Wahpeton 0 12 0 0 12
Watford City offense: Baylor Salas 1-of-2, 33 passing yards, Konnor Winter 1 reception, 10 yards, Trysten DeVries 23 receiving yards; Rhylie Ledahl-Berger 25 carries, 199 yards, 4 TDs; DeVries 10 carries, 124 yards, TD; Jayden Waggoner 3 carries, 46 yards; Baylor Salas 3 carries, 35 yards; Brogan Shannon 4 carries, 18 yards; Jonathan Sargent 2 carries, 7 yards; Dayd Shoemaker 2 carries, 2 yards
Watford City defense: Harper Moberg 8.5 tackles; Thaydan Arnold 4.5 tackles, 1 sack; Brandon Spacher 4.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 fumble recovery; Bryson Wolfe 4.5 tackles; DeVries 3.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 fumble recoveries; Winter 3.5 tackles, 1 INT (for TD); Ledahl-Berger 3.5 tackles; Shannon 3 tackles; Carter Breitbach 1.5 tackles, 2 INTs
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