Packers grab first EDC win, prepare for North
Grand Forks Red River came to West Fargo on Friday, Oct. 2 and took a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
That's as close to winning as the Roughriders got.
Fueled by 6-foot, 190-pound senior quarterback Bryce Jorgenson, the Packers scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to beat Red River 35-14.
"It's a game, it's over with," West Fargo coach Jay Gibson said, referring to the Packers' first Eastern Dakota Conference win of the season. "I'm already looking to the next game."
Jorgenson had touchdown runs of 4, 8, 8, and 12 yards, finishing with 91 yards rushing and 66 yards passing for West Fargo (3-3 overall, 1-1 EDC).
He wasn't flawless, however, throwing an interception during the first quarter that resulted in a touchdown by Red River's Elby Pope.
"The only reason we beat Red River is because we ran the ball so well," Gibson said. According to Gibson, the bad weather, which caused slipperiness of the ball and field, had a lot to do with the lack of passing success.
West Fargo running back Jaco Kiefer had 143 yards on 15 carries.
Chris Waind led Red River (4-2, 1-1) with 48 rushing yards, while quarterback Sam King finished 7-for-23 passing and one interception for 66 yards. The Packers play another critical conference game tomorrow at home against Fargo North (1-5, 1-1). The Bruins are coming off a 41-14 loss to EDC powerhouse Fargo South.
Fargo North quarterback Taylor Bosch "is very good and they play four wide," Gibson said. "They can really throw the football. ... Their receivers are very good. We're going to have to defend the pass."
Gibson said he likes the way his team has played lately.
"The nice thing is we've had a couple 200-plus yard passing games and we've had a couple 300-yard plus rushing games," he said. "We like to have balance.
"We've played four in a row that I feel were very, very good football games. We've played against good competition and we just need to keep going in the right direction."
