East Grand Forks loses on 30-yard heave in final seconds
Oct. 6—EAST GRAND FORKS — The East Grand Forks Senior High football team has only lost three times dating back to last year's section championship.
Three losses by a combined three points.
In the latest heartbreaker, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta quarterback Drew Huebner hit wide receiver Riley Asmus in the back of the end zone from 30 yards out with 4 seconds remaining.
A resulting 2-point conversion run by Owen Anderson gave the visiting Tigers a 15-14 win over the Green Wave at Senior High Field.
"Huebs gave me a shot, threw me a perfect ball and I just did my best to go get it," Asmus said. "Not a better feeling than that. It was unbelievable."
East Grand Forks looked like it had the game-winning drive moments earlier. Clyde Anderson punched in a 2-yard run on third-and-goal as the Green Wave offensive line started to wear on Morris Area.
Anderson's score gave East Grand Forks a 14-7 lead with 67 seconds left in the game.
After a short kick return, Morris Area took over at its own 30-yard line with 61 seconds left and no timeouts.
On the second play of the drive, Huebner found Jackson Hallman over the middle for a 29-yard gain to EGF's 38-yard line with 41 seconds to play.
Two plays later, Huebner hit Hallman again for 8 yards. But because he was short of the first-down yardage, the clock ticked down for what was a rushed final snap.
On the last play, Huebner dropped back and lobbed a pass deep to the 6-foot-4 sophomore Asmus, who was double-covered in the end zone.
As the Green Wave defenders bumped into each other, Asmus caught the ball just before going out of the back of the end zone.
"I saw the safety was over a little more than normal, and I thought this was our time," Huebner said. "I knew (Asmus) was going to get it. You always have to believe, right?"
On the 2-point conversion, the Tigers spread the offense out wide and ran Anderson up the middle for the go-ahead points.
"After our first long catch where we got out of bounds, coaches started asking me what I was thinking (about kicking an extra point or going for 2-point conversion)," Morris Area coach Kevin Pope said. "I didn't hesitate. Two to win. You're on the road. We have faith in the guys."
The Tigers' last-second heroics spoiled an impressive comeback for the Wave, who trailed 7-0 at halftime.
The Green Wave defense made play after play. They blocked a punt, Wave cornerback Damian Bushaw made a fantastic interception on the second play of the second half and Austin Rusling chased down a long pass play and forced a fumble to prevent a third-quarter drive from fetching points.
"I thought we were in the right spot (on the last-second touchdown) but the kid made a heck of a play," EGF coach Ryan Kasowski said. "I understand what our kids were thinking. They thought he was running out of real estate and that they were in a good spot, but he was able to get his feet down. We knew that's who they were going to go to. It was just a great play by that kid."
That's two 15-14 losses for the Wave this season. East Grand Forks lost a one-point game to Little Falls when a last-minute field goal was missed.
"It shows we're right there, which is encouraging," Kasowski said. "It's obviously heart-breaking to lose those games. We just have to continue to keep working and trying to find a way to win. It's tough when you're one play away. It's a tough loss for our kids but I'm proud of the way we competed."
