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FF, HLA celebrate homecoming
Published 10:46am Thursday, October 4, 2012Entering the sixth week of the high school football season, both the Fergus Falls Otters and the Hillcrest Comets are riding a win in the second half of the season and look to add extra excitment this week as they host homecoming matchups.
The Otters celebrated a milestone last week as Head Coach Richard Risbrudt won his 200th victory as Fergus defeated state ranked (Class 5A) Sartell-St. Stephen 35-28.
This week, the Fergus football team will look to ride their success into their homecoming matchup against the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks (0-5).
The Thunderhawks are coming off a a 37-0 loss to the Bemidji Lumberjacks and are hungry for a win.
The Thunderhawks have played a tough Central Lakes Conference schedule as the teams they have faced have a combined 17-8 record.
“Andrew Carlisle is a tough kid on defense,” Risbrudt said. “While, Austin Wiberg seems to be a favorite wide receiver on offense for them.”
Coach Risbrudt looks to keep his team focused through the festivities of homecoming that include a parade, Powderpuff football game and an Ironman volleyball match on Friday afternoon.
“Our focus still needs to be on this Friday night game. I’m sure the Rocori (4-0) boys wish they could have their homecoming game back again from last Saturday. They lost to Sauk Rapids (0-4) 20-12,” Risbrudt stated.
Fergus will look to once again blend the run and pass in order to keep the Grand Rapids defense guessing, while playing very physical on the defensive side of the ball.
The Otters received good and bad news this week as linebacker/runningback Dane Ringquist returns from a broken wrist, but they will be without starting left tackle Alex Anderson after he suffered a season ending ACL injury.
Across town, the Comets will welcome in an old rival in the Underwood Rockets for their homecoming matchup.
The Comets are coming off a 51-32 win over the Carlton Bulldogs last week that saw them end their two game losing skid.
The visiting Rockets have been on a tear since losing their opener, winning their last four games including last week’s 56-0 pounding of Bertha-Hewitt.
A postivie note for the Comets is that they look to be at full strength entering the showdown.
Hillcrest will have to slow down Underwood’s run game which is led by runningback Chase Collins and quarterback Noah Rocholl.
“This is the biggest game of the season so far,” Comets coach Charlie Brue said. “They are a very good team with a strong running game.”
The Comets will look to quarterback Dalton Tostenson to continue his aerial assault to allow runningback Theo Taylor to sneak between the tackles this week.
“We will do our best as we play the rest of our regular season against three of the best teams in Minnesota. The only statement we could hope to make is that we will give our all and hope the ball will bounce our way,” Brue added.
The Comets will also hold a Powderpuff football game at 2:15 p.m. Friday for their homecoming celebration.
Both games begin at 7 p.m. Friday.
