Detroit Lakes Football wins slugfest in Park Rapids, 20-14

(KDLM) – Detroit Lakes football traveled to Park Rapids to face the Panthers in Week 7 of high school football, and came away with a hard-fought defensive 20-14 win in a game that saw five combined takeaways from both teams.

The Laker offense came out strong, scoring on their opening drive for the third consecutive week on a drive finished on a five-yard quarterback keeper by Bradly Swiers. The snap of the extra point sailed over the head of kicker Evan Thomas, and the Lakers led 6-0 with 8:22 left in the second quarter.

Will Martin forced a fumble on the third play of Park Rapids next drive, which was recovered by Gavin Smith. Park Rapids ended the Laker drive with a pick of Swiers midway through the first quarter, then Caeden Yliniemi returned the favor with an interception of Panther QB Noah Morris.

Park Rapids took the lead late in the second quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Morris to Logan Jackson in the corner of the end zone. The extra point was good, and Park Rapids led 7-6 with three minutes left in the half.

Needing a quick touchdown before the break, the Laker turned to Ethan Carrier, who scored a three-yard touchdown with 1:50 left in the half. The two-point conversion would be successful (Swiers pass to Christian Solberg), and the Lakers retook the lead 14-7. Carrier would finish the game with 145 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Park Rapids began the second half with a long kickoff return that set up the Panthers inside the red zone. Running back Tristan Hill, who would tally 20 carriers for Park Rapids, tied the game on a seven-yard touchdown with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

The Laker offense would respond again with a long drive capped off by a 3-yard Mason Carrier rushing touchdown. The two-point conversion pass from Swiers to Ty Jones was just short of the endzone, and the Lakers led 20-14. The Lakers are now 2-for-7 on their last seven two-point conversion attempts.

The Laker defense took over the fourth quarter. A Grady Kirchner interception ended a Park Rapids drive deep in Laker territory with 5:50 left, but the Laker offense couldn’t capitalize. Yliniemi would punt the ball back to Park Rapids with 1:14 left in the game, giving the Panthers a chance to tie or take the lead.

Brock Okeson stuffed Tristian Hill behind the line of scrimmage for a loss on the first play, then Gavin Smith sacked Morris on the second play to set up a 3rd and 24 for the Panther offense. A 17-yard run by senior Nick Michaelson set up fourth-and-seven at midfield. Needing a first down to keep the game alive, Morris hit Jaxson Lund with a short pass, but Lund was tackled by Okeson short of the line of scrimmage.

With the win, the Lakers improve to 4-3 and will finish the regular season at home next week against 7-0 Dilworth-Glundon-Felton. Park Rapids falls to 1-6 and will travel to Thief River Falls to face the 3-4 Prowlers.

SCORING SUMMARY –

Detroit Lakes 6 8 6 0 – 20

Park Rapids 7 0 7 0 – 14

SCORING PLAYS –

Q1:

DL – 5yd TD run Swiers, XP no good. 8:22

Q2:

PR – 23yd TD pass Morris to Jackson, XP is good. 3:20

DL – 3yd TD run E. Carrier, 2PT is good (Swiers to Solberg)

Q3:

PR – 7yd TD run Hill, XP is good

DL – 3yd TD run M. Carrier, 2PT no good