FERGUS FALLS, Minn. -Andrew Larson threw for four touchdowns and nearly 200 yards. Nicholas Lewis caught five passes for 151 yards and three TDs.
Not a bad game for a couple of high school football players, right?
Guess again. Those were the numbers the Fergus Falls seniors put up in the first half Tuesday night against St. Cloud Apollo. It was more than enough to lift the Otters past the Eagles 29-7 in the Class 4A, Section 8 football quarterfinals.
"Watching film, we saw we would be open. All we had to do was execute and we did that," Lewis said.
If that sounds easy, it was. Larson hit Lewis for TDs on passes of 16, 32 and 72 yards in a 7-minute stretch of the first half. Toss in a 13-yard scoring strike from Larson to Alex Morstad and the No.2-seeded Otters (7-2) were on their way to a rout of the seventh-seeded Eagles (2-7). Fergus Falls will host Alexandria in the section semifinals Saturday night.
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Larson cooled considerably as the second half turned sloppy and scoreless - Lewis didn't catch another pass - to finish 11 of 25 for 253 yards. But the quarterback ended the game with 31 yards rushing, a 2-point conversion run and he intercepted two Apollo passes playing defense.
"He's our Mr. Everything," Lewis said.
Said Apollo coach Jon Benson: "He's a good athlete. He rolls out, he can run, he has a strong arm. He's going to make somebody a good college quarterback. He's going to play someplace besides Fergus Falls High School."
The game was a salve for the Otters, who stumbled 38-19 in their regular-season finale at Rocori. That came one week after they claimed an emotional victory over Class 5A Moorhead.
"We didn't come out ready to play at Rocori," Larson said. "That was our main focus this week - to show some intensity and heart and play like this was our last game because it could've been."
Apollo 0 7 0 0- 7
Fergus Falls 15 14 0 0-29
FF-Lewis 16 pass from Larson (Larson run)
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FF-Lewis 32 pass from Larson (Hauser kick)
SCA-Bidleman 1 run (Meyer kick)
FF-Lewis 72 pass from Larson (Hauser kick)
FF-Morstad 13 pass from Larson (Hauser kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: SCA, Hall 21-100, Pulliam 9-48, Bidleman 6(-7), Voit 3-17. FF, Lee 7-34, Larson 12-31, Ringquist 7-2, Fogaard 1-11.
PASSING: SCA, Bidleman 2-12-2 48 yards, Hinnenkamp 1-6-1 20. FF, Larson 11-25-0 253.
RECEIVING: SCA, Noreen 2-31, Erickson 1-37. FF, Morstad 2-32, Lewis 5-151, Kosak 1-15, Ringquist 1-32, Garrahan 2-24.
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Mike McFeely at (701) 241-5580
