Bismarck's Dressler puts finishing moves on North

BISMARCK -- If Mark Gibson wasn't in Fat City on Friday night, he never will be.

Gibson, the Bismarck football coach, was able to give high-powered running back Weston Dressler almost half the night off as the Demons rolled to a convincing 35-3 opening game victory against Fargo North in North Dakota Class 3A football.

Being able to rest Dressler, one of the top offensive forces in the state, is the essence of sitting pretty. But with Bismarck up 21-0 at halftime and the Demons defense keeping North at bay, Gibson felt comfortable running plenty of reserves onto the Community Bowl field.

"We wanted to see what the other kids could do," Gibson said. "I thought everyone who came in played well."

Well enough, at least, to pile up 293 yards on the ground, 109 of that by Dressler, who carried just once in the second half and left the game after scoring two touchdowns.

North needed just one possession to score the first points of the night. Spartans kicker Brandon Hellevang connected on a

23-yard field goal.

But North didn't accomplish much offensively after that, penetrating into Bismarck territory just twice. The Spartans had a field goal blocked after reaching the Bismarck 24 in the first half, and lost the ball on downs at the Demons' 37 in the second half.

For North coach Bret Sorensen, it was a rugged evening.

"We have a lot of inexperience and it showed," Sorensen said. "We weren't in shape and it showed. We made a lot of mistakes and it showed. But all those things are correctable."

North 3 0 0 0-- 3

Bismarck 7 14 7 7--35

N--Hellevang 23 FG

B--Dressler 23 run (Carpenter kick)

B--Dressler 38 run (Carpenter kick)

B--Miller 1 run (Carpenter kick)

B--Etzold 1 run (Carpenter kick)

B--Huether 3 run (Carpenter kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: North, Lynnes 9-35, Sylvester 3-6, Halstenson 4-6, Yates 2-3, Gustafson 2-0, Korzcak 4-(-5). Bismarck, W. Dressler 9-109, Solemsaas 5-50, Huether 6-34, Etzold 5-28, Schmitcke 6-26, Miller 10-26, Solemsaas 6-24, R. Dressler 2-(-4).

PASSING: North, Gustafson 10-15-0 152 yards. Bismarck, Etzold 5-16-1 67 yards.

RECEIVING: North, Houkom 5-31, Ross 5-54. Bismarck, W. Dressler 3-53, Vetter 1-9, Carpenter 1-5.