G/M routs Patriots, 30-6

You could say that the Griggs/Midkota Titans' 30-6 GCC Homecoming victory Friday, Sept. 20, over the May-Port-CG Patriots was a bit of karmic retribution for the last game the two teams played in 2022.

In a 49-0 loss that year, the Titans were trailing MPCG by 37 with under a half minute remaining in the first half off a fumble deep in Patriot territory, when the opponents decided to resort to a hook-and-ladder play for a 76-yard touchdown for one last insult.

G/M Coach (and Portland native) Ryan Dockter certainly remembered that slight, and decided to give his team a bit of extra incentive.

"Two years ago, they really pushed us around, and the score turned on us pretty quickly," Dockter said. "We challenged our kids to the task of not just taking down the Patriots, but making a statement in our region."

The Titans scored first in the second quarter on a 14-yard touchdown by Levi Kautzman. Cole Vincent's two-point run made the score 8-0 at halftime, and Trace Spickler added onto that with a 27-yard pass from Brady Haugen on fourth down in the third quarter to increase the advantage to 14-0.

MPCG drew to within one possession in the fourth quarter with a 59-yard strike courtesy of quarterback Cole Fugleberg to Keaton Saastad.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the Titans' triple threat running game with Kautzman, Vincent and Kindle Carlson salted the game away with clock-eating plays.

Haugen sneaked in for a one-yard score for some breathing room at 22-6, and Carlson's 15-yard touchdown capped the scoring for the contest.

The Titan trio rushed for 237 of the team's 246 yards. Vincent led the way with 104, followed by Carlson's 76 and Kautzman's 57.

Dockter once again praised Vincent's elusiveness as a factor in the G/M win, but Kautzman's two-way excellence carried the day in this instance.

He would finish with 16 solo tackles – four for loss – three sacks and a forced fumble, in what the coach termed a "monster" performance.

"When Levi has games like this, he makes the whole team better," the coach said. "It's hard to scheme against him because he just has a nose to find the ball, but is so universal that we feel like we can put him in a number of different positions to utilize his talents."

G/M's defensive focus was to limit the touches and impact of MPCG's Cutler Peterson. With Kautzman's leadership on defense, along with Wyatt Hoyt (five solo tackles) and Max Ludwig (10 total stops), the Titans kept Peterson from establishing himself as a factor.

The sizable homecoming crowd in Cooperstown also got a shout-out from Dockter.

"Our fans were great," he said. "It's fun to have people talking about our football team, and get excited to see what will happen each week."

The last remaining unbeaten Nine-Man – Region 2 team, the Enderlin Eagles, took on the Titans last Friday night, Sept. 27, at Hendrickson Field in Enderlin.

"Since week one, we've said that our goal is to win the region, and see where that takes us come playoff time," said Dockter. "We know we're in good position, but we have another big task to go down to Enderlin and get the 'W'."

This Friday, the Titans (3-2, 2-0) are back on the road to play the Richland Colts (0-5, 0-2). Game time in Colfax starts at 7 p.m.

Nine-Man - Region 2 Football

Griggs/Midkota 30,

May-Port-CG 6

MPCG 0 0 0 6 6

G/M 0 8 6 16 30

Second Quarter

G-M: Levi Kautzman 14 yard run (Cole Vincent run)

Third Quarter

G-M: Trace Spickler 27 yard pass from Brady Haugen (2 pt. conversion failed)

Fourth Quarter

MPCG: Keaton Saastad 59 yard pass from Cody Fugleberg (2 pt. conversion failed)

G-M: Haugen 1 yard run (Vincent run)

G-M: Kindle Carlson 15 yard run (Vincent run)

Griggs/Midkota Statistics

Offense

Passing: Haugen 4-7-56 yards

Rushing: Vincent 22-104; Carlson 9-76-TD; L. Kautzman 6-57-TD; Haugen 7-18-TD; Tristen Zaun 1-0; Dominic Ressler 1-(-3); Lakin Ronningen 1-(-6)

Receiving: Spickler 3-48-TD; Carlson 1-8

Defense

Tackles (unassisted/assisted): L. Kautzman (16-0); Wyatt Hoyt (5-1); Max Ludwig (4-6); Vincent (4-2); Rori Kautzman (3-2); Ronningen (2-1); Isaac Stadler (2-0); Carlson (1-5); Spickler (1-1); D. Ressler (1-1); Lane Ressler (0-1); Haugen (0-1)

Sacks: L. Kautzman 3, R. Kautzman 1.5, Stadler 1, Ludwig 0.5

Tackles for Loss: L. Kautzman 4, Hoyt 2, Ludwig, Stadler, Vincent

Forced Fumbles: Haugen, L. Kautzman

Fumble Recoveries: Haugen, Hoyt, Ludwig