Special teams are a funny thing.
Moorhead opened the third quarter with a touchdown on a kickoff return and then recovered a shocking onside kick on the next play. That's when all of Moorhead's special team magic ran out. Two blocked punts, a missed extra point and a failed 2-point conversion were killers with Willmar grabbing a 35-26 win Friday night at Jim Gotta Stadium.
"We knew coming into this game we'd have to play great all three phases of the game," said Moorhead coach Kevin Feeney. "We had collapses in all three at some point and you can't beat a good team like Willmar making those mistakes."
Moorhead falls to 3-2 while Willmar has won its third straight game, improving to
3-2 on the season.
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The onside kick coupled with the kickoff return had Willmar coach Jon Konold thinking this might not be his night.
Konold said Willmar was assessed a penalty because it was late getting onto the field to start the quarter.
"Yeah, coach gave us a pretty good butt-chewing at halftime," said Willmar receiver Ryan Lawler, who finished the night with six receptions for 90 yards.
It looked like the bad luck was going to continue with Moorhead scoring on the 81-yard return by Levi Tompkins.
But that's when Moorhead missed the extra point.
After Moorhead recovered the onsides kick, Willmar stopped Moorhead on a three-and-out.
That's when Willmar's luck changed with the defense blocking a Moorhead punt.
The Cardinals gained momentum with Lawler catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from Alex Grove with 8:49 left in the third cutting the Moorhead lead to 20-14.
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Once Willmar blocked a second punt on Moorhead's next position, it was apparent the confidence shifted to Willmar.
Three plays later, running back Grant Schow ripped off a 27-yard touchdown run giving Willmar a 21-20 lead with a few seconds left in the quarter.
From there, it was all Willmar.
Moorhead, after getting an interception, took another blow by fumbling the ball on the Willmar 35.
Schow made them pay by rushing for a 65-yard touchdown pass for a 28-20 lead.
"Our guys held in there and they kept fighting," Konold said. "(Schow) is starting to understand our zone scheme and hitting the holes and being patient."
Konold was right. Schow rushed for a game-high 158 yards on just 19 carries.
Duginski made up for the fumble by rushing for a touchdown of his own with 7:22 left in the fourth. But a failed 2-point conversion kept Moorhead at a distance with Willmar still having a 28-26 lead.
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Willmar padded the lead with Nathaniel Swoyer scoring on a 3-yard run about two minutes later for a 35-26 lead and ultimately putting the game out of reach.
"There were times tonight where we had guys who were looking at what was going on instead of making something happen," Feeney said. "That's got to change."
Moorhead did make things happen early on.
It took a 7-0 lead off a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jesse Doschadis to Jake Uglem with 34 seconds left in the fourth.
When Willmar tied the game at 7-7, Doschadis scored on a 6-yard touchdown run before halftime for a 14-7 lead.
"There are things we are going to have to improve on," Feeney said. "I just can't wait to see the film tomorrow and find out what those things are going to be."
W 0 7 14 14-35
M 7 7 6 6-26
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M-Uglem 10 pass from Doschadis (Raymond kick)
W-Schow 25 run (Fader kick)
M-Doschadis 6 run (Raymond kick)
M-Tompkins 81 kick return (kick failed)
W-Lawler 14 pass from Grove (Fader kick)
W-Schow 27 run (Fader kick)
W-Schow 65 run (Fader kick)
M-Duginski 3 run (run failed)
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W-Schoyer 3 run (Fader kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: W, Schow 19-158, Grove 5-10, Schendel 1-(-1), Schoyer 1-3. M, Duginski 13-61, Tompkins 2-(-7), Uglem 12-43, Doschadis 10-57.
PASSING: W, Grove 13-21-2 160. M, Doschadis 10-15-0 131.
RECEIVING: W, Lawler 8-90, Stier 2-12, Schendel 3-53. M, Shipman 1-5, Tompkins 3-5, Hand 3-23, Ness 1-43.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Ryan S. Clark at (701) 241-5548
