Blue Jays fall to Magicians in finale

Adam Melom ran with the tenacity of someone ready for the playoffs on Friday.

Now, it's time for the real thing.

The Minot High School senior running back piled up 180 yards in the first half and finished with 22 carries for 219 yards and three touchdowns as the Magicians trounced Jamestown 49-7 in their regular-season finale Wednesday at Duane Carlson Stadium.

Minot (3-3 West Region, 5-3 overall) clinched the No. 4 seed and plays at East Region champion Devils Lake in the Class AAA quarterfinals on Oct. 29, a week from Saturday.

"We haven't seen Devils Lake," Melom said. "We've got to work hard and come prepared."

Minot used a quick-huddle offense to catch Jamestown's defense off-guard for most of the game.

The Magi finished with 469 yards of total offense, 416 of which came on the ground.

"The line was doing their job," Melom said. "It felt good to get (pushes) into the end zone."

The 5-foot-8, 154-pounder scored on TD runs of 58, 1 and 6, the first two helping the Magi get out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Tanner Preskey also scored on a 3-yard run.

"We had to execute, and I felt we did a nice job for most of the first quarter," Minot High coach Barry Holmen said.

Ben Love, after kicking three extra points in the first quarter, drilled a 29-yard field goal with 27 seconds remaining in the first half to give Minot a 24-0 advantage at halftime.

Holmen wasn't particularly pleased with his team's performance in the second quarter, as Jamestown allowed only the field goal despite Minot putting together two long drives.

"We had some penalties and dropped balls; we lost our flow, offensively," Holmen said.

But a pair of Jamestown turnovers to start the second half gave Minot short fields, and the Magicians capitalized on both. Melom had his final TD run and Kolton Larson topped off the string of good luck for Minot with a 13-yard score. The two TDs were just 31 seconds apart.

Preskey and Josh Pizzo added TD runs in the second half for Minot, which saw quarterback Alex Yanosko finish 2 of 10 for 53 yards. Junior Brandon Van Dusen hauled in a 40-yard pass in the first quarter that helped set up Melom's second score.

Jamestown (0-6 West Region, 0-8 overall) moved the ball through the air with quarterback Matt Grounds, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 180 yards.

He found Joey Gebhardt on a swing pass in the fourth quarter that went for a 20-yard score, the only end-zone trip for the Blue Jays.

Blue Jays senior wide receiver Brady Anderson had a standout game, finishing with a game-high seven catches for 101 yards.

The Blue Jays finished with 206 yards of total offense, with only 26 coming on the ground.

NOTE: Jamestown senior Sasha Seekins successfully kicked the extra point on her team's only touchdown. According to an announcement made over the loud speaker, it marked the first time in Jamestown High School history a girl scored a point for the football team.

Minot High 49, Jamestown 7

Jamestown 0 0 0 7 -- 7

Minot High 21 3 19 6 -- 49

First quarter

M -- Adam Melom 58 run (Ben Love kick), 11:22

M -- Tanner Preskey 3 run (Love kick), 8:12

M -- Melom 1 run (Love kick), 4:06

Second quarter

M -- Love 29 FG, 0:27

Third quarter

M -- Melom 6 run (kick failed), 10:07

M -- Kolton Larson 13 run (Love kick), 9:36

M -- Preskey 2 run (kick failed), 4:13

Fourth quarter

J -- Joey Gebhardt 20 pass from Matt Grounds (Sasha Seekins kick), 9:29

M -- Josh Pizzo 12 run (kick failed), 2:46

Individual statistics

Rushing: J, Grounds 9-17, Brett Mayher 3-11, Terry Bruns 1-1, Eathan Gumke 1-1, Gebhardt 1-(-4); M, Melom 22-219, Alex Yanosko 7-61, Larson 5-55, Pizzo 5-42, Marcus Green 2-25, Caleb Albertson 2-6, Preskey 2-5, Marcus Quist 2-2, Leon Marke 1-1.

Passing: J, Matt Grounds 13-28-2 180, Brady Anderson 0-2-0 0; M, Yanosko 2-10-0 53.

Receiving: J, Anderson 7-101, Nathan Ellingson 2-24, Willy Marler 2-24, Gebhardt 1-20, Tony Smith 1-9; M, Brandon Van Dusen 1-40, Larson 1-13.