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Lions shut out Hazen 21-0 in first round

Lions set for rematch with Aggies in quarterfinals

Ryan Ladika/MDN Wide receiever Zach Hendrickson (3) stiff-arms a defender during the first half of Bishop Ryan’s 21-0 first-round win over Hazen.

The Bishop Ryan Lions’ defensive corps produced one of its best showings of the season and their offense did just enough to pull out a 21-0 victory over the Hazen Bison in the first round of the 11B state playoffs at Herb Parker Stadium Saturday night.

Entering the evening matchup, the Lions’ primary goal was to contain Bison quarterback Adin Jungers. The senior led a Hazen offense that scored at least 30 points on six separate occasions throughout the regular season, and the Lions’ defense welcomed the challenge.

“We showed a lot of grit,” said Ryan head coach Roger Coleman. “They were down in the red zone a few times and we created turnovers. We were in the red zone and they created some turnovers. He’s a tough kid and we knew that coming in. We finally found a way to bottle him up toward the end.”

The Lions set the tone for the evening with an opening drive that consumed over half of the first quarter. Just five plays in and facing a fourth down and 23 from their own 34 yard line, Ryan prepared to punt with wideout Zach Hendrickson.

The senior received the snap but hesitated for a moment. He saw an opening and broke off a 25-yard dash down the near sideline to the Hazen 41 yard line to extend the drive.

Quarterback Jett Lundeen did not waste his second chance, later punching through a wall of Bison defensive linemen on second and goal from the one yard line to help give his team a 7-0 lead. The drive spanned 16 total plays and drained 6:49 off the clock.

“Coach gave us a great gameplan, and it was all about execution,” Lundeen said. “It didn’t start off good, but we persevered and we bounced back well. They played great.”

The Lions’ defense ran with the early momentum. It recovered from a Hazen kickoff-return to Ryan’s 27 yard line with a forced fumble and recovery, the first of three takeaways on the evening, to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

The contest would remain deadlocked at 7-0 until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. Ryan followed its lengthy first drive with an even longer 19-play effort that straddled the pause between the first two quarters, but Hazen’s defense would not break for the next 24 minutes of play.

The Lions’ defense allowed Hazen deep into Ryan territory twice more in the meantime but forced a pair of Jungers interceptions to kill both drives.

“We practiced all week to make sure that we didn’t let them scramble out and run all over us, and I think we executed that pretty well,” senior wide receiver Logan Wentz said. “There were a couple of times he got away from us, but that comes with the game.”

Ryan finally returned to the end zone on its final two drives of the game, both via Lundeen quarterback sneaks to give the freshman signal-caller three rushing touchdowns on the day. A failed try on fourth down by the Bison with under two minutes left sealed the Lions’ 21-0 victory.

Coleman and his team will now look ahead to a rematch with Velva/Garrison in the quarterfinals Oct. 30 at the Herb. The Lions edged the Aggies in a tight 20-12 matchup in the penultimate game of the regular season, and Ryan is expecting more of the same Saturday night.

“We’re expecting a dogfight,” Hendrickson said. “It’s always fun playing them, it’s always close, and it’s going to be a war.”

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