Nathan Beitler/MDN Bottineau High School junior quarterback Emerson Marum looks for open receivers downfield during their state finals game at the Dakota Bowl against the Langdon Area-Munich Cardinals on Friday, Nov. 14 in Fargo.

The Bottineau High School Braves ended their season as runner-up after their 29-14 loss against the Langdon Area-Munich Cardinals at the 2025 NDHSAA Class A Football State Playoffs in the finals on Friday, Nov. 14, their first ever time competing in the Dakota Bowl.

The Braves kicked off their first visit to the Dakota Bowl with an early lead during their first drive of their state finals appearance. They took just over four minutes to drive the ball down the field, but they ended with a 31 yard touchdown throw from junior quarterback Emerson Marum to sophomore wide receiver Landyn Grant.

The Braves’ defense was able to keep pace with their offense, and shut down the Cardinals’ offense with an early stop at the seven yard line.

The Braves were unable to capitalize on the early break, and had to punt the ball away on their next possession, giving the ball to the Cardinals on the 48 yard line.

Langdon Area-Munich took advantage of the Braves’ lull in their offense, and scored a touchdown of their own on the first play of the drive.

The Cardinals threw 52 yards to score, but failed in the extra point attempt, leaving the score 7-6 with the Braves leading. The Braves ended the first quarter of the ball game with possession, but a loss on the play ended with them third and 20 as they moved into the second.

The Braves were able to extend their lead with 8 minutes 47 seconds left in the first half with a six yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Skylar Foster-Salois.

Skylar’s touchdown and the successful extra point put the Braves at an eight-point advantage with a new score of 14-6. However, the Cardinals did not take long to respond, scoring their second touchdown of the game with a 67 yard touchdown pass with seven minutes 25 seconds left in the half.

The Cardinals secured the two point conversion, and tied the game 14-14 for the first time since the first quarter.

The Cardinals were still riding their momentum during the Braves’ next drive with the Langdon Area-Munich defense intercepting a pass, giving them the ball once again.

The Cardinals were able to take advantage of the quick turnover and scored on another touchdown pass with just under a minute and a half left in the second quarter.

The Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 21-14 over the Braves as the first half ticked to an end.

The second half of the ball game started with a Braves kickoff to the Cardinals, but neither team was able to progress to the endzone during the third quarter.

The Cardinals kickstarted the game back up in the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 32 yard touchdown pass. They were able to complete the two-point conversion, giving the Cardinals a 15 point lead.

However, the point buffer was unneeded, as the Braves were unable to score again before the ball game was over.

Bottineau’s first ever Dakota Bowl appearance ended with a loss to the Langdon Area-Munich Cardinals 14-29. Though they are riding home without the state title, the Braves still ended the season having made school history as the first Bottineau team to make it to the state finals and compete in the Dakota Dome.

“Can’t ask for a better group of guys. They come to work and want to grind everyday, all they want to do is get better. As a couch, you can’t ask more than that,” said Bottineau head coach Zach Keller. “We have a great senior class and they deserve so much credit for what we’ve done, but there’s a lot of good guys coming back.”