WILLMAR -- A game that was tight at halftime, turned into a second-half blowout and the Vermilion Ironmen crushed the Ridgewater Warriors 55-17 in the Minnesota Conference Athletic Conference on Saturday evening.
Vermilion's Canadian quarterback Van Cyr -- he's a freshman from Laval, Quebec -- threw for five touchdowns. Evasive running backs piled up three more scores.
It looked like anyone's game at halftime. The visitors led just 21-17. But the Warriors forgot to punch in for the second half while the Ironmen mined the damp Hodapp turf for five touchdowns that covered 20, 18, 74, 78 and 75 yards.
It was Ridgewater's first loss and Vermilion's second straight win coming on the heels of last week's victory over 2007 state champion Rochester.
"I'm just glad this happened now and not later," said the Warriors' MCAC-leading running back Alex McLaughlin, who couldn't outrun a quick Vermilion defense. "We'll learn from this."
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Ridgewater quarterback Justin Koenen threw 12-yards to Ricky Warren in the end zone on fourth-and-goal to tie the game 7-all in the first quarter..
The Warriors seemed off key at the start drawing multiple penalties for "too many men" and also "too few on the line."
Trailing 21-7 in the second quarter, Ridgewater rallied on a safety sack by defensive end Joe Doubler and a one-yard dive by McLaughlin.
Operating from a no-huddle, shotgun formation, Cyr's quick release and laser-like accuracy made one big play after another.
But the Warriors' sophomore safety DeCarlo Serrano would only concede that the victors had "decent players," adding that "They executed and we didn't; we'll definitely play a better game next week."
Ridgewater is on the road the next two weekends -- at Thief River Falls (Northland CTC) this Saturday and on Sept. 27 at Fergus Falls.
Vermilion 54, Ridgewater 17
Vermilion 14 7 20 13 -- 54
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Ridgewater 7 10 0 0 -- 17
Ver -Van Cyr 14 pass to name not available (David Sunderman kick)
Rgw - Ricky Warren 12 pass from Justin Koenen (Luke Euerle kick)
Ver - Damian Rice 2 pass from Cyr (Sunderman kick)
Ver - Kenny Stanley 4 run (Sunderman kick)
Rgw - Safety, Joe Doublers tackles Devon Bertram in end zone
Rgw - Alex McLaughlin 1 run (Warren pass from Koenen)
Ver - Dominik Sherman 20 run (Sunderman kick)
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Ver - Andre Johnson 18 pass from Cyr (Sunderman kick)
Ver - Johnson 74 pass from Cyr (kick fail)
Ver - Sherman 78 pass from Cyr (Sunderman kick)
Ver - Devon Bertram 75 run (Sunderman kick)
