West wins 11-man game

FARGO — Despite the all-star stage, the 11-man game at the North Dakota Shrine Bowl had a familiar style for the West team’s Landon Smith.

“Ground-and-pound, smash-mouth football,” he said.

Smith piled up 67 of the West’s 254 rushing yards en route to a 22-13 victory against the East on Saturday.

“If that wasn’t going to work for us, we weren’t going to win this game,” Smith said of his team’s running attack. “Obviously, it was working for us.”

The West’s offensive style was in stark contrast to its opponent’s. The East threw for 257 yards, with 151 of those yards being hauled in by Fargo South wide receiver Jon Baune.

Baune opened the scoring in the first quarter. On second-and-14 from the West’s 22-yard-line, East quarterback Josh Hansana dropped back to pass. He turned to his left and tossed a spiral to Baune in the back corner of the end zone beyond the defender’s reach. Baune’s extra-point kick staked the East to a 7-0 lead.

The West answered on its ensuing possession, putting together a six-play, 65-yard drive capped by Smith’s 6-run touchdown scamper to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.

Shrine Game

At Fargo Shanley

11-man

West 22, East 13

East 7 0 0 6 — 13

West 0 20 0 2 — 22

E–Baune 22 pass from Hansana (Baune kick)

W–Smith 6 run (Merriman kick)

W–Melom 3 run (Merriman kick)

W–Cunditt 26 pass from Merriman (kick failed)

E–Rivard 4 run (kick failed)

W–Safety

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: E, Medhaug 6-54, Hansana 7-53, Rivard 8-40, LaBine 1-15, Mairs 7-26, Riopelle 2-2, Arvin 2-(minus-1). W, Smith 12-67, Westby 14-61, Merriman 4-45, Bowers 2-41, Melom 11-36, Rice 1-4.

PASSING: E, Hansana 19-29-2 220 yards, LaBine 5-7-1 37. W, Merriman 3-8-1 72.

RECEIVING: E, Baune 12-151, Medhaug 4-33, Rivard 5-30, Olson 1-27, Voegeli 2-7. W, Leupp 1-42, Cunditt 1-26, Rice 1-4.

Goethe is the assistant sports editor at the Fargo Forum

Tags: high school, sports, football