The Underwood football team executed an Onside Kick on the very first play of the game on Friday in Battle Lake and it was successful. The Rockets recovered the kick at their own 48 yard line, however, they failed to move the ball and were forced to punt. Ottertail Central took advantage by taking over possession of the football at their own 20 yard line after a punt. The Bulldogs proceeded to march 80 yards in 8 plays and scored the first TD of the game on a 10 yard run by Mason Hammer. Tanner Arndt delivered a two-point conversion pass to Bricker Bladow to give OTC an 8-0 lead with 6:22 to play in the first quarter.
OTC then forced a three-and-out possession for the Rockets and after a very short punt the Bulldogs took over on the Underwood 37. On the very first play Drew Johnson got open over the middle and Arndt spotted him and hit him in stride, allowing him to sprint 37 yards to the end zone. Following the two-point conversion pass from Arndt to Owen Buehler the Bulldogs were ahead 16-0 with 3:53 remaining in the opening quarter.
Underwood then went on a 14 play, 70 yard touchdown run with Tristan Evovold finding the end zone on a 5 yard run. Brien Poser ran the ball into the end zone for the two-point conversion and the Rockets cut the lead to 16-8. OTC responded with an impressive drive of their own, going 73 yards in 13 plays and scoring on a one yard run by Arndt and a two point conversion run by Calvin Stueve. That gave OTC a 24-8 advantage at the half.
In the third quarter, a big opening kick-off return sparked the Rockets as Jaxon Rich gave them great field position after his kick return, with the ball placed at the 35 yard line. Tristan Evavold broke loose for a 33-yard TD run and it was 24-14, OTC with 10:10 left in the third quarter. Stueve’s 46 yard TD run got the lead back up to the 16 point halftime margin as OTC took a 30-14 lead.
A 14 play Underwood drive that started on their own 16 yard line stalled at the Bulldogs 9. OTC then marched 91 yards in 13 plays with Arndt carrying the ball over the goal line from the 5 yard line and Owen Buehler converting with a successful two-point run to put the final at 37-14.
Underwood ran for 193 yards on the night, led by Evavold with 88 yards on 11 carries. Poser had 44 yards on 11 tries. Defensive leaders were Logan Schleske (8 solo tackles) and Evavold (7 solo tackles, 1 assisted tackle).
Mason Hammer led OTC with 95 yards on 17 carries and Stueve had 83 yards on 11 attempts. Arndt completed 4-of-7 passes for 106 yards. His passes went to four different receivers, Drew Johnson (37, TD), Tyson Misegades (26), Stueve (22) and Hammer (21).
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