Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke advances to state tournament with win over Stephen-Argyle
Nov. 2—FARGO — Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke running back Lewis Jones looked like he would have his way against the Stephen-Argyle Central defense early in Thursday's Section 8 9-man title game.
Then he went down with an injury in the first quarter.
The Chargers typically run a balanced rushing attack with four running backs, but Jones' injury forced Kehan Nelson and Carson Rubischko to step up and carry more of the load.
The extra work didn't slow the two down. Nelson and Rubischko each had two touchdowns in the Chargers' 34-6 win over the Storm.
Coach John Wilebski liked the Chargers' resiliency in the game.
"We had a couple of big injuries of key players early in the game, and they stepped up," he said. "Kids on the bench went in, (Blake) Rychlock stepped up that first half, and then, second half, we knew they were going to come at us, but we had time at halftime to go over stuff with the substitute guys, the guys playing new positions. That was a nice win."
Rychlock, the Chargers' quarterback, completed eight passes for 118 yards and added 68 rushing yards in the win. Sawyer Jacobson hauled in four catches for 69 yards.
Two of those catches were over 20 yards.
"Sophomore made some nice plays," Wilebski said. "I'm so proud of them. Two key players go down that quick and the controversy on the sidelines. For them to settle in and lock in and stay focused was tremendous."
The second quarter proved to be the difference maker for the Chargers. Rubischko got the scoring started with a 7-yard run, and Nelson followed with a 10-yard run. Rubischko scored again, a 4-yard run, with less than two minutes left in the half.
That gave the Chargers a 22-0 lead going into halftime.
"We spread them out, and we constantly keep, so Rychlock had to throw the ball plus run it," Wilebski said. "It kind of caught them where they were in no man's land, and, of course, Nelson broke the big runs off that helped too. Instead of going one way four and out, we moved the ball, which was nice."
With the win, Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke will face the winner of Section 6, either Fertile-Beltrami or Clearbrook-Gonvick, in the first round of the state tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at Moorhead High School.
The Chargers beat Clearbrook-Gonvick 28-0 this season, but haven't faced undefeated Fertile-Beltrami.
"Fertile's blown everybody out, so they haven't had a challenging game," Wilebski said. "Hopefully Jones can come back. And if he can't, we'll go with it, but it's a nice challenge to see how we can do against them."
