Photo by Cameron Carlson
FORT TOTTEN — Marial Deng has been playing football with the Keja family his entire life. The Dengs and Kejas are cousins.
Kashton Keja Jr. was Four Winds’ staple at quarterback last year. But now, with Keja Jr. graduated and sophomore Kaleb Keja taking over, the Indians hardly missed a beat on Friday.
“I’ve actually been working with [Keja] all summer, basically,” Deng said. “He likes throwing to me deep. So I’ve got to go make a play when he throws it.”
Keja threw for 242 yards. Deng had four touchdowns and 186 reception yards. The duo’s effort helped Four Winds (1-0) score 50 unanswered points in a 50-14 win over Larimore (0-1) in its season opener at Four Winds High School.
“They’ve been probably doing that since they were little kids in the yard,” Indians co-head coach Travis Mertens said.
Four Winds also has Kylon Keja on the coaching staff. And Kyson Keja, a freshman, made some big plays on running back and linebacker.
“I’ll say it till I’m blue in the face: Those Kejas, those lights come on and there’s just something different about them,” Mertens said.
It was the first of nine Region 2 games, which will all count towards the standings. Four Winds outdid its 30-point win over Larimore from last year — but it didn’t come without its early bumps in the road.
Self-inflicted errors plagued the Indians early on.
They started Dayson Dubois at quarterback, with the junior continuing to challenge Keja for the primary job. A potential 61-yard touchdown reception by Deng was called back due to a false start. When the Indians went to punt, the snap was high, and Larimore recovered it on Four Winds’ five-yard line.
Disaster struck. The Polar Bears didn’t take long to find the end zone and go up 8-0.
Keja, though he eventually went on to have a strong game, had an ugly opening drive at quarterback. On just his second play, he fumbled while looking downfield for a pass. Larimore recovered it again and came through with a 34-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 13.
The Indians found themselves in a 14-0 hole.
“They were backpedaling and shuffling,” Mertens said. “And you could see it in their eyes: They were kind of ready to break.”
To make matters worse, Four Winds lost two of its best players to mid-game injuries. Wide receiver Richard Cavanaugh and running back Tyler Black Jr. both had to come out. Their returns are uncertain.
“That’s a big hit on us,” Four Winds co-head coach Mark Bishop said. “We’re gonna need guys to step up now.”
Larimore then recovered the next kickoff as the Indians’ sloppiness continued.
“First game, you’re at home, you try to do a little too much. You’re trying to do other people’s job,” Bishop said. “We were harping fundamentals.”
What started to turn things around was Judah Young recovering a fumble on Four Winds’ side. Keja led a 71-yard touchdown drive for the Indians, with receptions of 32 and 15 yards by Deng.
At the end of the first quarter, Four Winds trailed 14-6.
“All the little things,” Deng said of what his team needed to clean up. “I just knew I had to turn up and be the leader I am.”
The Indians came up with a key stop to start the second quarter. Larimore quarterback Baron Burns took a long backwards route, and Kyson Keja got him for a sack on third down.
“He could have easily had a bunch of mistakes out there and not done what he did,” Mertens said of Kyson Keja.
Some early penalties set Four Winds back on its next possession. It didn’t matter, as Kaleb Keja flung a long pass that Deng snatched. The UND commit broke a tackle and ran the rest of the way into the end zone for a 72-yard touchdown reception.
After Larimore turned it over on downs, Keja made a 46-yard pass to Dubois — who started this game at quarterback. He helped fill the void left by Cavanaugh and Black Jr.
“He can hold his own at those spots,” Mertens said of Dubois. “He’s gonna be a Swiss Army Knife for us.”
Four Winds finished the drive on a lateral pass from Keja to Deng, who ran in for the nine-yard touchdown. Four Winds shot ahead 20-14 with 2:36 left in the first half.
Deng had it all going. On the first play of Larimore’s next drive, Deng snatched an interception. Dubois went back in at quarterback and helped get the final 26 yards needed for another touchdown.
Four Winds was already starting to walk away with it at halftime, up 28-14. The Indians’ Lander Guy ended the half with a sack.
The Polar Bears didn’t have much juice left in them. They turned it over on downs in both of their third-quarter possessions.
Keja found Deng for the senior’s fourth touchdown of the game. It was a 38-yard reception this time.
Kyson Keja had a 27-yard run to fuel Four Winds down the stretch of the third quarter. Dubois carried it 16 yards to get within the 20, and Kaleb Keja made a 16-yard pass to Deng. It was one yard short of Deng’s fifth touchdown, but Keja finished the drive with a simple one-yard keeper.
The team collected 386 yards with Keja playing quarterback.
“I’m excited for Kaleb to know he’s just gonna be that guy,” Mertens said. “He’s got an arm talent that not a lot of kids in our region or state have.”
It was a 42-14 blowout heading into the fourth quarter. Larimore messed up its own fumble, and Four Winds got the ball at the Polar Bears’ 15. A series of carries by Dubois got the Indians back in the end zone, igniting a running clock at 50-14 and 8:08 left in the game.
Four Winds totaled 153 rushing yards and 262 passing yards.
Up next, the Indians travel to take on No. 3 North Border in Walhalla on Friday at 7 p.m. They lost to the Eagles 48-14 last year after being tied at halftime.
“Going up there is always difficult. It’s a long trip,” Mertens said. “But I’m hoping it’s one that a lot of these guys have a bitter taste in their mouth from last year.”
Four Winds is undefeated through Week 1 this year — a change from last fall’s 0-1 start, which segued into three straight wins. The Indians are trying to defend a season where they hosted a playoff game for the first time.
“I feel pretty great,” Deng said. “We have a whole bunch of talent. … I feel like once we pound in, we could go very far.”
