×

Shut down in the semis

LAEM Cardinals spoil Velva’s perfect season bid with 20-0 shutout

Submitted Photo Velva senior Hunter Brabandt (27) makes a catch in the state semifinals against Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich. Photo courtesy of Al Christianson.

VELVA — The defense for the Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich football team was impenetrable Saturday afternoon in the Class 11A state semifinals.

The No. 3-seeded Cardinals (11-0) kept their quest of a perfect season intact while ending the No. 2-seeded Velva Aggies (10-1) undefeated run with a 20-0 shutout performance in Velva.

LAEM has now racked up six shutouts this season.

The Cardinals return to the Dakota Bowl for the first time since 2009, when they last lost the state championship to the Aggies.

“Some of these seniors, when they were freshmen and sophomores, took some lumps,” LAEM coach Joshua Krivarchka said. “Last year, we made it to the state semifinals and this year we are going to the Fargodome. So, they are a pretty special group to me.”

Submitted Photo LAEM senior running back Connor Tetrault (44) stiff arms a Velva defender Saturday in the state semifinals in Velva. Photo courtesy of Al Christianson

After a pair of turnovers in the first quarter, the Cardinals scored all 20 points of their points in the second quarter.

A shanked punt by Velva senior Elijah Hackman, standing in his own zone, allowed the Cardinals to start their first scoring drive on the Aggies’ 22-yard line.

Bruising runs up the middle by senior tailback Connor Tetrault got the ball down to the one-yard line and senior Jacob Delvo finished it off on a quarterback keeper. The two-point conversion fell incomplete six seconds into the second quarter.

“The defensive end was crashing down and keying in on our big fullback Connor Tetrault,” Delvo said. “A lot of attention was toward him, so it all worked and the line opened up a big hole for us.”

On the Cardinals next possession, Delvo was back in the end zone on another one-yard punch in. He also ran in the two points, 14-0.

Alex Eisen/MDN Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich senior Chase Peebles (8) points to the sky after the Cardinals beat Velva 20-0 in the Class 11A state semifinals Saturday in Velva.

The touchdown was set up on perfectly drawn up double-pass play to get the offense into the red zone with Delvo tossing the ball backwards to senior receiver Anfernee Economy, who then launched the ball up field to a wide-open Simon Romfo.

“We were ahead 6-0 and ran that trick play,” Krivarchka said was the turning point of the game. “It got us down there and got us up a couple of scores. Pretty much from that point on, I thought our offensive line and defensive line dominated the game.”

Following the Aggies fourth punt of the game, the Cardinals scored once more with 18 seconds left in the first half on an 8-yard pass from Delvo to Grant Romfo. The PAT was blocked.

The Aggies were held to just 23 yards of offense in the first half.

“Offensively, we couldn’t sustain anything,” Velva coach Larry Sandy said. “That was caused by what they were doing on the other side. They were winning more battles than we were and that gets hard to execute anything offensively.”

Maintaining good field position and running the clock out was the Cardinals’ memo in the second half.

Even a successful fake punt on a pass from Velva senior Nicholas Effertz wasn’t enough to turn the tide.

Hackman, Effertz, Jon Thomas or Gage Florence couldn’t get anything going on the ground for the Aggies and Hayden Lee, Ethan Schepp and Hunter Brabandt weren’t having much success catching balls either.

A pair of fourth quarter interceptions by Delvo helped seal the LAEM shutout, 20-0.

“Our defense is very tough,” Krivarchka said. “The touchdowns that we have given up this year, a lot of it has been with our No. 2’s in the game. So, we know we have a pretty special group on defense.”

LAEM advances to the Class 11A Dakota Bowl to face No. 1-seeded Hillsboro/Central Valley (11-0). The Burros blanked No. 4-seeded Dickinson Trinity 34-0 in the other semifinal played Saturday in Hillsboro.

For the Aggies, their season ends abruptly.

“Well, I think this was a pretty good season for us,” Sandy said. “A group of kids that was very coachable, they worked hard in the offseason and I thought we came a long way.”

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

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today