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North Central Stars will play Warren-Alvarado-Oslo in Section 8 9-Man Football Championship on October 31, 2019

Winner will advance to the State 9-Man Tournament in Minneapolis

KELLIHER - The North Central Stars football team started its postseason with a victory, beating the Northern Freeze 42-6 in the quarterfinals of the Section 8 9-Man Tournament last Tuesday evening.

As reported in the International Falls Journal, the Stars scored first in that game, with senior Benji Jourdan running the ball 88 yards for a touchdown.

The Stars went on to score three touchdowns in the second quarter:

After scoring on the first play of the second half, senior Matt Kennedy ran the ball in for another touchdown after the Stars recovered a Northern Freeze fumble.

Junior quarterback Jack Gilbert kept the ball on a sneak to help put the Stars up 30-0 at halftime.

On the Stars first offensive play of the second half, junior Tim Barthel puts in a 58-yard run to the end zone.

With just over three minutes to go in the third quarter, Kennedy punched the ball in for the Stars' last touchdown of the evening.

Although the Freeze scored a touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, it was not enough to overcome the point deficit.

Throughout Tuesday's game, the Stars had to contend with muddy field conditions, but head coach Dave Westerman said the field is not an excuse for how they play.

"I think everyone in the northern half of the state had to deal with the mud," he said. "We like to call those things 'petty problems'. It's the same for the other team so we can't use anything like that as an excuse."

Westerman also said he wants to see the Stars set the tone of their next game early.

"We came out with a little bit of a hiccup at the start tonight," he said. "We need to be able to come out and play like we can in the first possession."

The Stars were back on the field at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 26 where they knocked off the Badger-Greenbush-Middle River Gators 22-14 in double overtime.

They will play Warren-Alvarado-Oslo in the Section 8 Championship on Thursday, October 31, 2019 at 3 PM at the Fargodome. The winner advances to the State Tournament in Minneapolis. The Stars are now 10-0 on their season.

Warren-Alvarado-Oslo comes into that game with a 7-3 season record, their losses coming from Badger/Greenbush-Middle River, Park Christian and Win-E-Mac.

Photographs by Tessie Barrett, Sally Warrington McRoberts, David Manuel and others.

 

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