Wahpeton’s home opener was spoiled by the visiting Grand Forks Red River Roughriders, 44-20.
The Roughriders came into Wahpeton after losing the pervious week to Jamestown while getting shut out in the second half. With a starting lineup made primarily of seniors, Grand Forks was determined to not let that happen again. The Riders got on the board first, with a Brett Feller 12 yard touchdown run with 7:23 left in the second quarter. After a successful two point conversion, the Huskies took over down 8-0.
The Wahpeton three headed monster from a week early was bottled down to one, with Beau Arenstein rushing 28 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Grand Forks was able to score again before halftime. The Roughriders option run allowed for Sophomore Quarterback Pearce Parks to dip and dodge Huskie defenders for 28 yard run. After a failed two point conversion, Grand Forks lead 14-0.
With less than three minutes, Arenstein was able to work his team down the field with a combination of designed runs and hand offs to his running back, Treyton Mauch to ended the game with 53 yards rushing and leading the team with 62 yards receiving. The Huskies were able to get into the Red Zone where Arenstein was able to connect with Jacob Berndt for a eight yard score to get Wahpeton on the board before halftime, trailing 14-6.
In the second half, is where the eruption of scoring came from the Riders, lead in part by Senior Logan Okstad who took over a rushing duties for Grand Forks and rushed for 116 yards and a TD, highlighted by the 52 yard touchdown to open the second half for the Riders to go up 22-6 after the two point conversion.
Wahpeton was able to answer back to keep the score close, driving down the field and scoring on a two yard quarterback run up the middle. The two point attempted failed to keep the score 22-12 with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
In a drive that began in the third quarter, Grand Forks drove down the field and scored a five yard touchdown to push the lead to 30-12 with 11:56 left in the game. Wahpeton was able to move down the filed quickly, scoring in under a minute on a Beau Arenstein run up the gut and successful two point conversion to make it 30-20 with 11:01 left.
Grand Forks’ offense was too run heavy for Wahpeton to deal with, chewing up clock and spitting out defenders. The Riders would score two more touchdowns and conversions to take a 44-20 lead that would be the final.
The Huskies next game is a road journey to Fargo to take on the North Spartans. Kickoff is at 7pm on KBMW.
