Photo by Noah Clooten
DEVILS LAKE — After a break last week, and the festivities leading up to Friday night’s homecoming football game, Devils Lake fell flat.
For the past few weeks of football, everything seemed to be coming up Firebirds. They won three in a row, including a victory over then-No. 2 Jamestown. They had a week off to soak up their triumphs, along with their newly minted No. 3 ranking.
But for as fast as they rose, they took a steep tumble on Friday at Roller Field. No. 3 Devils Lake (3-2, 0-1) lost 28-14 to unranked Wahpeton (3-2, 1-0). It was a tight contest through the first three quarters, but the Firebirds could never get into a groove on offense.
“We need to realize that you’ve gotta play every game no matter what, at its highest level,” Devils Lake head coach Todd Lambrecht said. “We had lots of missed blocks. We had lots of dropped balls. I mean, there’s a lot of points we left on this field. I know any team can say that, but we literally left a lot of points.”
The Firebirds’ only points of the first half came on a pick-six.
They started at midfield on their first possession, a drive in which Will Heilman ran for 28 yards. But Devils Lake turned it over on downs at Wahpeton’s 20-yard line, with Mason Palmer overthrowing Oliver Wirth while under pressure.
Wahpeton went on to capitalize on its second possession, fueled by passes of 21 and 24 yards, and a 15-yard run by Treyton Mauch. Freshman Jack Gilbertson caught it in the end zone for his first career touchdown.
Wahpeton went for the two-point conversion and failed. Heilman began Devils Lake’s next drive with a 13-yard run, but the Firebirds couldn’t come up with much afterwards. They trailed 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
A flash of momentum came for Devils Lake after the break: an interception inside the 20 for Ryan Samuelson, who cruised into the end zone just 16 seconds into the second quarter. Palmer’s extra point was good, and Devils Lake edged ahead 7-6.
The Firebirds’ defense got a big stop, forcing a three-and-out and limiting Mauch to a one-yard gain. But, continuing to rely on Heilman, Devils Lake could make only marginal gains on the next drive. Heilman, who’d run for 44 yards already, got tackled for losses twice.
“He’s a solid runner. He sees good holes. He hits them hard,” Lambrecht said of Heilman. “We just — and that’s what I’m talking about with missed blocks. There was quite a few times when we got inside towards that 30 that we missed a block here and there. And it happens. But we’ve still gotta learn from it and move on.”
Devils Lake eventually turned it over on downs once again. Wahpeton took full advantage, going on a 77-yard touchdown drive that included a 34-yard run by Jackson DeVries. Traycer Tollefson had a big tackle on first and goal at the two-yard line, but Wahpeton completed a touchdown pass to Cayden Barth a play later.
To make matters worse, the Huskies went for two and capitalized, making up for their earlier missed attempt.
In the quarter’s final seconds, Devils Lake fumbled and turned it over on a backwards pass attempt. Wahpeton owned a 14-7 lead at halftime.
The second half started with the Firebirds’ best offensive drive of the game. Kade Fee ran for 29 yards over two plays, and he squeezed out a first down on third and one.
Threatening now on the 26-yard line, Palmer found Heilman wide open, and Heilman ran the distance. It brought him to 71 yards on the night. The extra point was good, and it was a brand new game at 14-14.
To further sway the momentum seemingly in Devils Lake’s favor, Wahpeton had to punt on its next drive. Brayden Steffens missed a very catchable ball downfield with no obstacles ahead.
A 19-yard run by Heilman got the Firebirds going again. Wirth had a 15-yard reception, and Fee picked up another first down.
But after Heilman was tackled for a loss of two, illegal motion against the Firebirds made it second and 17. Another pass to Wirth got 14 of those yards back, and Heilman gained one more yard to set up a crucial fourth-and-two situation.
After a timeout, Palmer was sacked — but a face mask penalty was called, bringing the ball to the 14-yard line. Another prime scoring chance for Devils Lake, on the cusp of taking the lead.
But a pass attempt in the end zone to Fee went in and out of his hands to make it third and 13. Palmer ran a quarterback keeper and fell just short of the first down — bringing the game to the fourth quarter with fourth and one at the five-yard line.
The Firebirds couldn’t convert. Palmer threw an incomplete pass intended for Weston Nelson, and they turned it over on downs.
Wahpeton steadily moved the ball with marginal gains — before an explosive 64-yard touchdown run by Mauch. The star running back, who Devils Lake had limited in the first half, stuck a thorn in the Firebirds’ side at just the wrong time.
“He’s a great running back. He cuts on a dime,” Lambrecht said. “And we did pretty good on slowing him down; we really did. But there was times where he got free, and that last touchdown — we knew he was gonna get one at some point in time. We just didn’t know when.”
And the offense had very few answers. Devils Lake turned it over on downs again, and Wahpeton responded with a 38-yard touchdown pass to Steffens. The two-point conversion, which had been unsuccessful the previous time, was good, making it 28-14 with the game having all but slipped away from Devils Lake.
Though they’d overcome it until this point, the Firebirds were sorely missing the presence of running back Bryar Exner. Still recovering from a dislocated shoulder, Lambrecht said there’s a chance he’ll be back next week.
“We’re anticipating it,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, we’ve just gotta keep playing and striving to get better.”
Palmer’s twin brother, Max Palmer, had three receptions for 55 yards on the following drive, and Wirth had a 16-yard reception. But two sacks hurt Mason Palmer, setting up an eventual fourth-and-22 dilemma. An incomplete pass forced the Firebirds to turn it over on downs yet again.
And so Wahpeton held onto the ball for the remainder. The high that Devils Lake was on after its win over Jamestown quickly crumbled into shock and frustration. The Firebirds have already experienced the highs — beating the then-No. 2 team in AA — and the lows — losing to an unranked Wahpeton team — of a football season.
Devils Lake is at home again next Friday against Fargo South (0-5, 0-1).
“We gotta block better. We gotta tackle better,” Lambrecht said. “Our DBs gotta have better coverage. When we blitz, we gotta be better at blitzing. Our line’s gotta block better. Receivers gotta catch the balls when it hits them in the hands. It’s those things, those little things, we have to do better. And that’s what we’re gonna work on this week.”
