Bemidji's long ride home made much easier after win

It is nearly four hours from Bemidji High School to O'Shaughnessy Stadium, where the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders play football. That would be a long ride home for the Lumberjacks' football team, regardless of Friday night's game outcome. Because of the Lumberjacks' defense, that long ride home will not seem as bad. The Lumberjacks came south and went back north with a 14-7 victory.   "We worked hard. We played our game. We came here to win," Bemidji defender Fisher Ganske said. "We wanted to show a city team we can play football too."   The game could not have started better for the visitors. They used a solid running game and some efficient passing by quarterback Peyton Neadeau to move the ball right down the field on the Raiders' defense. Neadeau would finish the drive with a one-yard touchdown run and a quick 7-0 lead.   It didn't take long for the Lumberjacks' defense to put its stamp on the game. The Raiders ran the ball up the middle, but someone on the inside of the Bemidji defense must have gotten a hand on the ball as it came squirting out of the pile. Ganske scooped up the ball and returned the fumble to the twenty-yard line. One play later, Neadeau found Owen Frazer on a crossing route for a twenty-yard touchdown. It looked like the Lumberjacks were going to run away with the game, but the Raiders' defense had something to say about that.   The Raiders' offense mixed an inside running game and a short passing game to put together a solid drive. CDH moved into the red zone with that combination, but Bemidji defensive back Alec Newby was shot out of a cannon coming off the edge and hit Cretin quarterback Miles Bollinger – forcing another fumble. The Lumberjacks would recover the fumble – thwarting the Raiders' best chance to score until then.   In a quickly moving first half, Bemidji put together another drive late in the first half. They used a nice option offense to threaten late in the first half. Neadeau threw a perfect ball to a wide-open receiver down the sidelines, but the receiver flat-out dropped the sure touchdown. The Raiders' defense pushed Bemidji back from that point and forced a punt that basically ended the half.   Down 14-0, the Raiders' offense came out of the locker room looking like they were going to leave the turnovers and penalties that plagued them in the first half in the locker room. Bollinger had an excellent chemistry going with wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='348705' first='Jaylen' last='Gayles']. They would connect on a bunch of five to ten-yard out routes. On one of those short completions, Gayles showed great strength, dragging tacklers down the field to turn a five-yard gain into a twenty-yard gain.   Bemidji's defense bent but didn't break.   "We just did our jobs and filled our gaps," Ganske said. "We had an all-around great game."   In the red zone, the Raiders faced a third and short, but Bemidji's [player_tooltip player_id='242397' first='Lucas' last='Caron'] exploded out of his stance and dropped the Raiders' running back for a three-yard loss. On fourth down, CDH couldn't convert on a pass on the sidelines that would have picked up a first down.   The Raiders would immediately get the ball back. Lined up in the shotgun, Bemidji sent a man in motion. However, the center snapped the ball too soon and hit the motion man in the hip. CDH jumped on the loose ball, and with the short field and one play later, Bollinger found his favorite target – Gayles, on a twenty-yard catch and run touchdown.   After going three and out, Bemidji flipped the field with a 51-yard punt with no return. The long field didn't seem to phase the Raiders' offense. They consistently ripped off five and ten-yard plays as they moved down the field. As the game flipped to the fourth quarter, CDH was down a touchdown, was moving the ball, and looked like they were about to take control of the game.   Ganske stepped in front of a badly underthrown ball in the red zone and picked off the pass, stopping the Raiders deep in Lumberjack territory again.   "We got it done when we had to," Caron said. "We were good under pressure tonight."   They didn't score, but the Bemidji offense strung together a series of effective runs to keep moving the chains. They chewed up five minutes of clock and moved the ball into the red zone. On fourth down, Raiders' defensive back Ryan Hughes picked off the pass to keep his team in the game.   Like they had all second half, the Raiders' offense patiently moved the chains and crept closer to the end zone. At mid-field, the Raiders picked an awful time to misfire. Four straight throws sailed on Bollinger – falling harmlessly to the ground. The turnover on downs effectively ended the game – giving Bemidji a 14-7 victory and making the long bus ride home well worth it.

It is nearly four hours from Bemidji High School to O'Shaughnessy Stadium, where the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders play football. That would be a long ride home for the Lumberjacks' football team, regardless of Friday night's game outcome. Because of the Lumberjacks' defense, that long ride home will not seem as bad. The Lumberjacks came south and went back north with a 14-7 victory.