James Jackson/MDN The Surrey Mustangs’ highlight-reel filled season came to an end on Saturday after a 43-8 quarterfinal loss to the reigning state champion LaMoure-Litchville/Marion Loboes.

After cooking up a four-game winning streak dating back to the regular season and into the first two rounds of 9B North Dakota state football playoffs, a resilient Surrey squad ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the defending state champion LaMoure-Litchville/Marion (LLM) Loboes on Saturday in a 43-8 quarterfinal loss to bring an end to a stellar season for the Mustangs.

Finishing out the Region 8 schedule with a 42-0 shutout victory over Alexander High and a 44-6 thrashing of Lewis & Clark-Berthold to finish runner-up in conference play to Divide County, the Surrey Mustangs (7-3) expertly utilized their momentum to propel them to a dominant first-round win over Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood and to claim an upset on the road over St. John last week.

Led by standout seniors Ethan Hanson at running back and quarterback Ryan Scheig, Surrey had their sights set on an even bigger upset on Saturday when they faced off against the defending 9B state champions.

Winners of 21 straight contests, the last loss for the LaMoure-Litchville/Marion Loboes (9-0) came nearly two years ago on Nov. 6, 2020.

Sporting the North Dakota 9B state football crown into the matchup, the Loboes continued their march towards claiming the distinction of back-to-back champions.

Despite an abundance of confidence heading into Saturday’s battle, it was a tale of squandered offensive opportunities for Surrey that defined the day and served as the Achille’s heel to their playoff upset bid.

Adding the insurmountable element to the Mustangs’ dilemmas was the LLM offense, which came out with the pedal squarely mashed to the floorboard from the opening whistle.

Under four minutes into the contest, the Loboes wasted no time in opening the scoring floodgates by posting the first eight of their 43 points on the day to the scoreboard via an 11-yard TD pass from LLM senior quarterback Anthony Hansen to freshman Gunner Thielges at the 8:11 mark.

However, at least at the onset of the game, the Surrey faithful were given something to believe in before the Loboes scoring machine shifted into top gear.

Nearing the end of the first quarter, Mustangs senior stud Hanson took an option hand-off from Scheig 11 yards and added to his loaded touchdown total on the season to allow Surrey to knot the game at 8-8.

Unbeknownst to the Mustangs, Hanson’s beautiful run would be Surrey’s only successful offensive drive of the day, followed by LLM quickly turning Surrey’s title dreams into a Halloween-weekend nightmare from that pivotal point forward.

Scoring the first of their five touchdowns yet to come in the contest, Loboes senior tight end Colton Ness utilized his height to block out an undersized Surrey defensive back on a corner-end zone touchdown reception to push LLM ahead 14-8, a position they never glanced back from in the playoff battle.

To Surrey’s credit and contrary to the surface optics of the scoreboard, the Mustangs lurked in striking distance throughout the first half and were in position on multiple occasions to capitalize on scoring drives that ultimately fell short.

Consequently, a number of must-have third down conversions by key wide receiving corps players sophomore Tegan Walhood and senior Jesse Dalby to sustain promising drives eventually were nullified by turnovers on downs or LLM takeaways in or around the red zone, thus stifling Surrey’s efforts to close a 22-8 gap heading into halftime.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Loboes operated with 100% efficiency when in position to pile on the points, going 5-for-5 in the red zone on the day.

Heading into the second half, LLM pulled away from the Mustangs courtesy of an exhibition of balanced play on both sides of the ball, seemingly scoring at will and pressuring Surrey’s offense into even more empty trips down the field.

By the final whistle, LLM’s senior running back Brady Lettenmaier and senior fullback Garrett Hebl would join Thielges and Hansen on the scoring stat sheet for the Loboes to bring the final score to 43-8 and move them one step closer to back-to-back state titles.

In spite of falling short of the ultimate goal of a North Dakota 9B state football championship, the Surrey Mustangs conclude a stellar year with a second-place finish in Region 8 competition and a deep drive into the playoffs, in addition to tremendous impacts from a slew of seniors whose contributions will have a lasting impression on the program for seasons to come.