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Ryan football stifles Stanley 22-13 on a rainy homecoming

Alex Eisen/MDN Bishop Ryan wide receiver Jaeger Lundeen (10) gets confirmation from the official about his positioning Saturday in a contest against Stanley.

Stanley threw the initial punch, but the Bishop Ryan football team withstood the blow and chipped away Saturday night for a 22-13 homecoming victory over the Blue Jays at Herb Parker Stadium.

Aided by three field goals in a steady rain by senior kicker JJ Johannsen, the Lions moved to 4-1 overall (3-1 Region 3) while dealing Stanley (3-2, 3-1 Region 3) its first regional loss of the season.

A 76-yard run by Stanley senior running back Michael Gunderson had the Blue Jays on Ryan’s 1-yard line on their opening drive. Stanley senior Wyatt Hanson finished the job off with a quarterback sneak. Ernan Salgado added the extra point to give Stanley a 7-0 lead 69 seconds into the contest.

Gunderson was held in check from there and limited to 89 yards in the contest. Hanson rushed for 81 yards.

Ryan added a touchdown of their own four minutes later. After a couple of designed scrambles out of the pocket by Ryan junior quarterback Ben Bohl, senior running back Hayden Schall went up the middle from four yards out to score. Johannsen had the point after hit the right upright and bounce out, 7-6.

Alex Eisen/MDN Stanley senior quarterback Wyatt Hanson (14) waits for the snap under center with Bishop Ryan defensive back Ben Bohl (3) pointing out signals in a Class A, Region 3 football game Saturday at Herb Parker Stadium.

Johannsen made up for the blunder with a 31-yard field goal later in the first quarter to put Ryan up 9-7.

Despite the rainy conditions, both squads weren’t afraid to air out the football. Stanley was the first team to capitalize with a 48-yard touchdown pass from Hanson to a wide-open Cody Ruden on a crossing route. The point after was blocked, so the Blue Jays held a 13-9 lead with 8:34 remaining before halftime.

Three minutes later, a Stanley turnover on a bad snap had the ball rolling toward Ryan’s end zone and Lions’ lineman Casey Larson pounced on top of it. Bohl eventually carried the ball across the end line on a quarterback sneak for Ryan’s second touchdown.

That turn of events gave the Lions the lead back, 16-13, going into halftime.

Schall rushed for 78 yards and Bohl added 55 more yards on the ground for the Lions.

A punt-filled, scoreless third quarter featured an interception by Gunderson and ended with Ryan facing a fourth and goal on Stanley’s 8-yard line.

Johannsen booted through the 25-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter, 19-13.

A Ryan fumble recovery turned into another field goal by Johannsen with 3:06 remaining to make it a two-score game, 22-13. The Lions wrapped up the victory completely with an interception by sophomore Kersey Harris with two minutes to play.

Both teams return to playing Friday night football next week, as the Lions travel to face New Town and Stanley hosts Des Lacs-Burlington. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Alex Eisen covers Minot High School, Minot State athletics and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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