FARGO, N.D. -- Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg is used to playing in domes. But its next game will be in a venue the Fighting Saints have never played in before.
KMS, behind 148 rushing yards from Joel Bauman and two touchdown runs from Mark Skoglund, won its first-ever state football tournament game Thursday by edging Lake of the Woods 21-12 at the Fargodome in the first round of the Class A tournament.
The unbeaten Fighting Saints (12-0) will now play at the Metrodome next Thursday at 10:15 a.m. against Goodhue (11-1) in the semifinals. KMS is appearing in its fourth state tournament, while Goodhue is making its seventh trip. Goodhue trounced Royalton 40-14 in the only other first-round game Thursday. Two more quarterfinal-round games (Adrian vs. Mankato Loyola and Cook County vs. Mahnomen) will be played Saturday.
A fast start enabled KMS to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter as Skoglund scored on a 20-yard run 1:42 into the game and again on a one-yard plunge with 1:18 left in the quarter. Taylor Freetly hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Kevin Steinhaus on the Fighting Saints' second score.
"It's a good feeling," said KMS coach James Cortez about advancing to the Metrodome. "We didn't do anything really different. We just picked some spots they gave us."
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Lake of the Woods had the ball for nearly 10 minutes in the second quarter and used two long scoring drives to pull within two points.
A Steinhaus interception set up the Bears' second score that came with only 15 seconds left in the half.
A heads-up play by sophomore special-teamer Jordan Helms allowed KMS to expand its lead. After forcing the Bears to punt for the second time in the third quarter, the Fighting Saints fumbled the punt return, but Helms alertly jumped on the ball, allowing KMS to set up shop at the Bears' 30-yard line.
It took just two plays for KMS to put up another score as Freetly hauled in a 28-yard touchdown pass from Steinhaus on the first play of the fourth quarter.
"Penalties shot us in the foot," said Cortez, whose squad overcame committing seven penalties that chewed up 76 yards. "You can do some things at third-and-two, but at third-and-long you can't do as much. But we buckled down in the second half."
KMS 21, Lake of the Woods 12
Lake of the Woods (7-5)..........0 12 0 0--12
KMS (12-0)................................14 0 0 7--21
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KMS - Mark Skoglund 20 run (kick failed)
KMS - Skoglund 1 run (Taylor Freetly pass from Kevin Steinhaus)
LOW - Jalen Stay 1 run (pass intercepted by Justin Johnson)
LOW - Blake Bjork 4 run (pass failed)
KMS - Freetly 28 pass from Kevin Steinhaus (Freetly kick)
Lake of the Woods
Team statistics
First downs: 16 ... Rushing: 27-88 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 15-27-129-2 ... Fumbles lost: 1 ... Penalties: 1-5
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Individual statistics
Rushing: Blake Bjork 14-44, Jalen Stay 8-24, Jake Beckel 2-3 ... Passing: Peder Beckstrand 14-26-113-2, Stay 1-1-16-0 ... Receiving: Cody Hasbargen 7-68, Bjork 5-35, Chad Reed 1-10, Beckstrand 1-16 ... Punting: Beckstrand 2-31 ... Interceptions: Stay 1 ... Fumble recoveries: Stay 1 ... Tackles (solo-assist): not available ... QB sacks: not available
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg
Team statistics
First downs: 13 ... Rushing: 45-271 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 1-6-28-1 ... Fumbles lost: 1 ... Penalties: 7-76
Individual statistics
Rushing: Joel Bauman 25-148, Mark Skoglund 10-82, Kevin Steinhaus 4-20, Mitch Hagen 6-21 ... Passing: Steinhaus 1-6-28-1 ... Receiving: Taylor Freetly 1-28 ... Punting: Chris Braaten 1-37 ... Interceptions: Joey Bauman 1, Freetly 1 ... Fumble recoveries: Lee Keil 1 ... Tackles (solo-assist): Justin Johnson 2-3, Steinhaus 4-0, Hagen 1-6, Freetly 4-3, Keil 2-0, Cole Berget 1-1, Ben Dols 1-0, Skoglund 8-9, Joey Bauman 3-6, Cody Ruka 3-1, Mitch Weflen 3-4, Brad Kneisl 0-6 ... QB sacks: none
