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Ryan football grounds Carrington Cardinals 42-6 in home-opener at Nedrose

Alex Eisen/MDN Bishop Ryan running back Jaxon Feller (24) reaches the ball across the goal line for the Lions' fifth touchdown Saturday evening in a 42-6 victory over Carrington at Nedrose High School.

Playing with a point to prove following an unsatisfying 29-27 defeat in Week 1 against Dickinson Trinity, the Bishop Ryan Lions broke in their new home away from home with a convincing 42-6 win over Carrington.

“We needed this to get us going because the first week and a half was pretty flat,” Ryan head coach Roger Coleman said. “We got some bodies back, so that was great, and we came out of the gates hot.”

The temporary Lions’ Den, moved to Nedrose High School this season with the air-supported dome staying up at Herb Parker Stadium, turned into a feeding ground Saturday evening for Ryan’s explosive playmakers.

Jaxon Feller, Logan Merck, Bryson Elm and Nick Sanders were all part of multiple touchdown-scoring plays.

Ryan punched in touchdowns on its first two drives.

Merck leaped up and snagged the ball away from a taller Carrington defender to score the first points. Three minutes later, the Lions were back in the end zone on a 13-yard scamper up the middle by Feller.

“I was just seeing my holes and hitting them,” Feller said. “You got to give the credit to the linemen.”

Backed up on third-and-25 in the middle of the second quarter, Ryan senior quarterback Sanders threw a desperate pass to Elm fighting through one-on-one coverage. Elm won the jump ball, but came down awkwardly.

“I landed right on my ankle and heard a pop or something,” Elm said. “I just kept on going, pushed through it and scored a touchdown. The adrenaline kicked in right away. I had the ball in my hands, so I had to score.”

Elm hobbled into the end zone, and kicker Bram Johannsen booted through the extra point to put Ryan up 21-0. Johannsen went on to make all six extra-point attempts in the contest.

And, despite the pain, Elm stayed in the game.

“After the play, it hurt really bad,” he said. “But then I was like, ‘You know what? I have to go in and do it for the team.’ So, I went back in and finished out the game.”

Forgoing the safe option of running the clock out and taking a three-touchdown lead into halftime, Coleman allowed utility man Merck to show off his arm strength. Ryan executed an 82-yard halfback pass from Merck to Elm, who made another tough catch in coverage, to extend its lead out to 28-0 at the break.

“We want to run more of those plays this year,” Coleman said. “We like drawing them up, and it’s fun for the kids. We were also pretty successful in the last few years using them. It’s always fun to get guys involved in different roles.”

Feller knocked over multiple Cardinals in a 15-yard touchdown run for the only score in the third quarter. His third and final time breaking the goal line came with nine minutes left on a 6-yard score, 42-0.

“I feel like this was a good win to bounce back and show what we are made of,” Feller said. “We got all of our guys back, so it was nice to come away with a win tonight.”

Carrington (1-1) avoided getting shutout on a quarterback sneak touchdown by Grady Shipman. At that point, with 4:10 remaining, both squads had pulled a majority of the starters out of the game.

The slight blemish didn’t take anything away from Ryan’s defense throughout the game. The Cardinals couldn’t get anything going through the air and leaned heavily on a running attack that the Lions kept in check.

“Very impressed,” Coleman said. “Last week, (Dickinson Trinity) ran all over us, and we missed a ton of tackles. This week, it wasn’t perfect by any means, but much better. Much more physical up front.”

Ryan hosts Kenmare/Bowbells/Burke Central next week at Nedrose. It will be senior night and the first Class A Region 3 conference game of the season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

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

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