Rath-Wald scores twice

FARGO — The 9-man East team has never lost the Shrine Bowl two years in a row, and they weren’t about to start now.

Zach Rynning threw for 175 yards and connected with Wade Rath-Wald twice for touchdowns as the East held off the West 28-20 in the 39th annual North Dakota Shrine Bowl game on Saturday at Fargo Shanley’s Sid Cichy Stadium.

“It feels like an honor,” Rynning said. “I’m really appreciative I was brought in to play on this team. It’s just a blast to play on.”

The West scored on the opening drive of the game when starting quarterback Matthew Landenberger found Andreas Holm across the middle for a 12-yard touchdown pass that put the West up 6-0.

Rath-Wald answered back with a 51-yard reception for the East from quarterback Jonah Schwartzenberger for his first touchdown of the night. Rath-Wald and Schwartzenberger led Napoleon to the 9-man title last season.

Rynning squeezed by on a quarterback sneak and later chucked a 53-yard pass to Justin Arp who caught the pass in the corner of the end zone to put the East up 20-6.

Rath-Wald finished with 71 yards off of five receptions and two touchdowns. Arp – a North Dakota State University walk-on - caught two passes for 69 yards and one touchdown.

“He’s an amazing athlete,” Rynning said of Rath-Wald. “He’s got great hands and seemed to be in the right place at the right time.”

Shrine Game

At Fargo Shanley

9-man

East 28, West 20

East 8 2 12 6 — 28

West 6 8 6 0 — 20

W–Holm 12 pass from Landenberger (kick failed),

E–Rath-Wald 51 pass from Schwartzenberger (Arp from Scwartzenberger)

E–Rynning 1 run (kick failed)

E–Arp 53 pass from Rynning (kick failed)

W–Holm 14 pass from Landenberger (Holm pass from Landenberger)

W–Oberg 23 pass from Landenberger (kick failed)

E–Safety

E–Rath-Wald 14 pass from Rynning (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: E, Schwartzenberger 7-22, Bell 7-4, Rynning 3-9, Hartz 3-(-2), Jochim 1-1. W, Sager 5-7, Oberg 3-10, Landenberger 2-11, Bakke 6-2, Holm 3-14.

PASSING: E, Schwartzenberger 11-17-1 119 yards. Rynning 12-17-1 175 yards. W, Landenberger 13-16-0 154 yards, Schweitzer 4-9-0 7 yards.

RECEIVING: E, Hartz 2-14, Wentzel 4-66, Rath-Wald 5-71, Arp 2-69, Laxdal 2-18, Elhard 1-8, Flanagan 1-10. W, Sager 2-21, Holm 6-56, Haugen 3-29, Oberg 5-31, Hulstrand 1-3, Young 1-9.

Pursley is a sports writer at the Fargo Forum

Tags: high school, sports, football