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Teigen, Eagles beat Otters
Published 9:49am Thursday, October 18, 2012The Fergus Falls football team saw sole possession of the Central Lakes Conference title slip through their hands Wednesday evening as big plays by the St. Cloud Apollo Eagles upset the Otters at home 27-20.
The Eagles, fresh off a win over in-town rival St. Cloud Tech, came out of the gates flying as Noel Teigen took the opening kickoff 92 yards to paydirt. Teigen would follow that score with a 44 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Ben Alvord.
In the second quarter, the Eagles ate up a huge chunk of the clock on a 17 play, 89 yard drive that was capped off with a one yard touchdown run by Alvord. The Otters would start to dig out of the 20 point deficit as Walker Heinen found the endzone from 10 yards out to put the game at 20-7 at halftime.
Fergus carried the momentum of the first half into their opening drive in the third quarter as a five play, 65 yard drive ended with a Brady Hansen one yard quarterback sneak. The Otters were in full rally effect, until Teigen took the wind out of their sails again on the ensuing kickoff, going 75 yards for his third touchdown of the contest.
The Otters would not give up as they took the following drive 70 yards, finishing with a one yard Heinen run with 5:23 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Fergus looked to be gaining ground until Teigen played the villain two more times in the evening as he intercepted two Hansen passes that killed the Otters offensive spark and sealed the game for the visitor.
“Everything that we talked about that couldn’t happen in the game did,” Otters coach Richard Risbrudt said. “We made too many mistakes in the first half of play.”
Heinen finished the night with 39 carries for 235 yards and two touchdowns, which was only overshadowed by Apollo’s Teigen.
“Apollo came out ready to play. The two late interceptions sealed the deal for us,” Risbrudt added.
The Otters finished their season with a 5-3 record and a share of the CLC title. Risbrudt and his team will now prepare to take on the East Grand Forks Green Wave Tuesday at 7 p.m. as they open the Section 8AAAA playoffs at home.
