FELTCH TOWNSHIP — There are more important things than sports, and that was quickly evident Thursday when North Dickinson High School’s eight-man football team took on Rudyard High School at James D. Priestup Memorial Stadium.
Green Bay Packers cornerback Eric Stokes (center) takes part in a workout ahead of Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Associated Press/Fernando Llano)
North Dickinson High School junior Spencer Kramer (23) runs with the ball during Thursday’s game between the Nordiques and Rudyard. (Photo by Shawn Chase/Daily News)
North Dickinson University quarterback Brady Jungwirth (15) throws a pass during Thursday’s game against Rudyard at James D. Priestup Memorial Field. (Photo by Shawn Chase/Daily News)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford throws during an NFL training session with the Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., on August 14. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
On the first play from scrimmage, Nordiques third-year quarterback Brady Jungwirth ran with the ball to the left side. After going out of bounds, a Rudyard player tackled Jungwirth and both players collided with assistant coach Jamie Mattson’s 6-year-old daughter.
“Once Laney (Matson) got hit, the game got very emotional very quickly.” Nordiques head coach Mike Christian said. “Whenever she scored a point, our players fired up and played hard for her.”
The atmosphere in the stadium had changed, but Christian kept his players focused on the task at hand.
“I just thought, ‘I need to play Nordic football.'” Christian added. “We have to go after them and do our job. We’re not worried about what’s going on over there.”
North Dickinson took advantage of the moment and stormed back against the Bulldogs, winning 50-20.
“This was a gift for Coach Mattson’s daughter.” “It was a great feeling,” Nordics senior David Parker said. “As soon as we saw her go down, we had a different feeling. We were worried, but then we got the news at halftime that it was a concussion. … That set the tone for the whole game.”
The win puts North Dickinson even closer to achieving its goal.
“This is huge, especially since our goal as a team this year is to make the playoffs.” Christian said. “We stumbled last week, we had some injuries, we knew we had to beat (Rudyard) even if we had a chance to win.”
The Nordiques scored on their second drive of the game with a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Jungwirth to take a 6-0 lead.
Rudyard wasn’t going to let it go that easily, though, and the Bulldogs scored a 53-yard rushing touchdown on their next drive to take a 7-6 lead.
Jason Graham scored a 10-yard touchdown run to give North Dickinson the lead back, 12-7.
Rudyard scored on a 48-yard pass before the second quarter to put the lead at 13-12 and put the game back on track.
North Dickinson sophomore Trenton Kramer and junior Spencer Kramer each had a receiving TD in the second quarter, and the Nordiques led 26-13 by halftime.
The Bulldogs started the third quarter with a long drive, but just as they appeared on the brink of scoring, Parker made three consecutive plays to halt Rudyard’s momentum.
“That was really big.” Christian said. “He’s a freshman and has never played in a game before. He’s worked hard all summer in the weight room and he got his opportunity tonight and I think he’s earned his spot.”
Parker was just listening to what his coach was telling him.
“I went, saw where the ball was going and ran as fast as I could.” “I’ll be honest with you, I was a little bit dumb, but it wasn’t that I wasn’t thinking straight because I only had one goal in mind. All the coaches were saying, ‘Just chase the ball.'”
“So that was all that was on my mind.”
North Dickinson’s offense dominated the Bulldogs in the second half, winning 50-20.
“It was pretty good. I’m happy with how we played.” Jungwirth said. “We played better defense than we did last game and stayed healthy, which really helped us.”
Jungwirth completed 14 of 26 passes for 281 yards and five touchdowns.
“Staying healthy was important.” Jungwirth added. “The receivers were catching the ball well and running good routes. With two Kramers on the outside, it’s easy to make good passes.”
The Nordiques also received contributions from Graham (77 yards rushing, 48 yards receiving, one touchdown), Spencer Kramer (46 yards rushing, 35 yards receiving, two touchdowns), Trenton Kramer (six catches, 124 yards receiving, one touchdown) and Ty King (four catches, 74 yards, one touchdown).
Spencer Kramer led the North Dickinson defense with 14 tackles.
The Nordics will be in action again on Friday when they travel to Lake Linden-Hubbell at 6 p.m.
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