Bryar Exner (Photo by Noah Clooten)
HORACE — In its first game of the football season Friday, Devils Lake faced a new team in Division AA: Kindred. The Vikings feature two players who’ve gotten Division I offers in Brooks Bakko and Luke Starcevic.
But it was 5-foot-8 running back Brock Johnson who gave Devils Lake the most trouble.
“He’s good. I mean, he proved it,” Firebirds head coach Todd Lambrecht said. “He wants his name up there.”
Johnson ran wild, totaling 235 of Kindred’s 357 offensive yards. Devils Lake (0-1) couldn’t keep up in a 42-12 loss to the Vikings (1-0) at West Fargo Horace High School.
“They’re tough. I mean, they’re solid. They do everything well,” Lambrecht said of the Vikings. “They do the little things well. And we did not. We had a lot of penalties. We had a lot of issues. They’re a good, solid, fast team, and we couldn’t catch up to the speed of the game tonight.”
Kindred scored a touchdown on six of its seven possessions. Devils Lake dominated the possession time, and had some offense woven throughout. Mason Palmer threw for 156 yards, Bryar Exner rushed for 95 and had a 19-yard reception, and Will Heilman had 62 receiving yards.
But the Vikings were more efficient. And, ultimately, more productive.
“We didn’t play well on defense,” Lambrecht said. “And that was a big question coming in, our defensive front guys. And we did not play as well as we should have. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get things fixed and figured out.”
Johnson rushed for 65 yards on Kindred’s opening drive alone. After the Vikings took a 7-0 lead, Devils Lake went three and out. Palmer was sacked for the first of four times on the night.
Johnson bolted for a 50-yard touchdown run on the first play of the next drive. It was already 14-0 just over halfway through the first quarter.
Devils Lake had the ball for almost the entire rest of the quarter. A series of marginal gains led to an eventual 70-yard touchdown drive. Max Palmer had two catches for 21 yards, and Heilman had a 13-yard touchdown reception.
“They’re two solid wide receivers,” Lambrecht said of Palmer and Heilman. “We’ve just got to give Mason a bit more time than we were giving him. And that’s the O-line coach, and that’s my job to make sure that our guys understand we do a better job at that.”
The Firebirds, by chipping away, kept it close at 14-6 going into the second quarter.
But Kindred kept running the ball to get it past the 50. On 3rd and 19, Starcevic strayed from the offensive line and burst downfield for a 41-yard reception.
Bakko had been quiet thus far. But he made his first two receptions of the game during the drive, including a six-yard touchdown to make it 20-6.
Kindred quarterback Gabe Whipple, while on defense, intercepted Palmer on the second play of the next series. It led to a 73-yard touchdown drive, capped by an explosive 53-yard touchdown from Bakko.
“It’s one of those things where he’s gonna make a few catches,” Lambrecht said of Bakko, who’s received offers from schools like Michigan and Wisconsin. “But I mean, overall, I thought we did pretty good playing defense on him. So I’m not too disappointed. He got one long one on us. So it is what it is.”
A sack and a holding penalty doomed Devils Lake on its following possession. Whipple connected with Sawyer Hesse for a 46-yard touchdown to cap the first half.
It was already a 35-6 rout.
Devils Lake’s offensive strategy changed significantly in the second half. It passed less and handed it off to Exner more. The senior running back had 39 yards as part of a 63-yard touchdown drive that took up the majority of the third quarter.
“We started getting the run game going,” Lambrecht said. “Bryar started running the ball. We started getting our blocks and sticking with them, and it made a difference in that second half.”
Eighty-one of Exner’s 114 total yards came in the second half.
Mason Palmer completed the touchdown drive with a four-yard pass to his twin brother, Max. It cut the deficit to 35-12 with 3:44 left in the third quarter.
Kindred, on the other hand, took just two plays to find the end zone. Bakko had a 12-yard reception, and Johnson did the rest with a 64-yard touchdown rush.
That brought it to 42-12. The score ignited a running clock and eventually held as the final. Devils Lake got as far as Kindred’s 33-yard line, but it fell short on a field goal attempt on the last possession that the starters played.
The Firebirds’ first contest came as somewhat of a rude awakening. Now they work towards the next opponent: Central Cass, which, like Kindred, just got the promotion from Division A to AA.
With a a game on their ledger, they have a better idea of what they need to work on. Particularly in the defensive department.
“Our defensive front line has to do a better job,” Lambrecht said. “Our inside linebackers need to quit standing still and get going to the ball, and stop guessing and just play. Our secondary played well. They had a few mistakes; it’s gonna happen.”
On the offensive side, Lambrecht said he wants his squad to establish the run game early — unlike this Friday, when they didn’t start leaning on Exner until the second half.
“Our defensive interior needs to play way better,” Lambrecht said, “and our offensive line needs to play way better.”
