GRAND FORKS - The first quarter of the North Dakota Shrine Bowl 11-man all-star football game was accidentally 15 minutes long - opposed to the standard 12-minute frames.
The extra time must have seemed like an eternity for the West squad, particularly anyone trying to cover East wide receiver Brandon Chrest.
The Cavalier product hauled in three touchdown passes in the first quarter to set the stage for the East's 34-0 win over the West on Saturday at the Alerus Center.
"I said to the coaches that I could be the go-to guy on offense if they needed me," said Chrest, who had touchdown catches of 14, 29 and 35 yards. "I just got some open looks. As a team, we came out hot and wanted it more."
Chrest finished with four catches for 97 yards. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder will be a preferred walk-on at North Dakota State in the fall. He said the Bison will give him a look at strong safety and wide receiver.
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"(Chrest) is tall and can run," said East head coach Davy Zinke, who will coach at Griggs-Barnes County next season after years at North Prairie. "Our team had speed everywhere."
The East squad dominated from the onset. North Prairie quarterback Jaden Pfeifer orchestrated an 11-play scoring drive on the team's first possession.
Pfeifer was the first of three different passers to hit Chrest for a touchdown in the first quarter. The two connected for a 14-yard pass with 10:50 left in the opening quarter.
The East pushed the lead to 13-0 with a trick play. Chrest caught a jump ball over a defender off of a double pass. Pfeifer passed to Jalen Ham behind the line of scrimmage. Ham then lobbed a deep ball to Chrest with 7:09 left in the quarter.
Two possessions later, Chrest struck for the final time. He caught a slant pass from Fargo Shanley quarterback Myles Montplaisir and took it 35 yards in for the score with 2:01 to go in the opening quarter.
The East defense took over from there, limiting the West rushing attack to only 26 yards. The West's top rusher was Velva's Collin Kittelson, who carried six times for 9 yards.
"We took some of our better athletes and put them on defense," Zinke said. "We preached team all week. The guys took to that."
The West offense was paced by Velva quarterback Jon Mack, who completed 8 of 13 passes for 134 yards.
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The East received strong quarterback play from both Montplaisir and Pfeifer. Pfeifer was 10-for-21 for 125 yards while Montplaisir was 5-for-6 for 104 yards.
In the third quarter, Montplaisir scored on a broken play after he fumbled near the goal line.
"We played as a team and executed our offense," said East running back Eric Kuntz, who had 47 rushing yards and 63 receiving yards. "I thought (our quarterbacks) were awesome. We've had a great connection in only a week of practice."
Kuntz, a former Rugby standout who plans to play football and run track at Minot State, capped the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard plunge. After the touchdown, Kuntz celebrated with a couple of flips, a la former MLB shortstop Ozzie Smith.
East 20 0 7 7-34
West 0 0 0 0- 0
E-Chrest 14 pass from Pfeifer (kick failed)
E-Chrest 29 pass from Ham (Kuntz kick)
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E-Chrest 35 pass from Montplaisir (Kuntz kick)
E-Montplaisir 3 run (Kuntz kick)
E-Kuntz 1 run (Kuntz kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: W: Collin Kittelson 6-9; E: Jaden Pfeifer 8-49, Eric Kuntz 5-47, Alex Lavoy 6-20
PASSING: W: Jon Mack 8-13-1, 134 yards, Tyson Gibson 1-7-0, 19 yards; E: Jaden Pfeifer 10-21-0, 125 yards, Myles Montplaisir 5-6-0, 104 yards, Jalen Ham 1-1-0, 29 yards
RECEIVING: W: Trey Jacobson 2-50, Channing Mann 2-42, Josh Sandy 2-23, Leighton Guthmiller 1-20, Zach Hochhalter 1-15; E: Brandon Chrest 4-97, Eric Kuntz 4-63, Phillip Enderson 4-57
Miller writes for the Grand Forks Herald
