Bryar Exner (Photo by Noah Clooten)
Devils Lake had a near-repeat of last year’s football matchup with Central Cass this past Friday.
Except this time, the Firebirds came out on top.
Last season, Devils Lake lost 34-27 to Central Cass, then a Division A team. Central Cass, now in Division AA, was ranked No. 3 heading into the week. The Firebirds, meanwhile, had a 42-12 loss handed to them by No. 2 Kindred in Week 1.
But Devils Lake got a massive jolt in the early going of its season. It beat the third-ranked team in Division AA on the Squirrels’ home turf. It was once again a one-score game, with Devils Lake edging out Central Cass 28-21 this time around.
With the win, the Firebirds moved into a tie for No. 5 in Division AA football.
Here are five principal takeaways from the action.
Bryar Exner provides the glue
In the loss to Kindred, Devils Lake didn’t start running the ball consistently until the second half. In Friday’s pregame show on Your Live Event, Firebirds head coach Todd Lambrecht said he wanted to see Exner run the ball harder and faster.
He needed Exner to “get in that fifth gear.”
And while Exner didn’t have any singular enormous gain, he was the backbone of the Firebirds’ offense all night long. He totaled 20 carries, good for 65 rushing yards. He added three receptions for another 30 yards.
With 9:36 left in the game, tied 21-21, Exner muscled his way in for a one-yard touchdown. It gave Devils Lake the lead that would eventually hold.
Will Heilman shows off versatility
Heilman, now a junior, was a Swiss Army knife for this team last year. After a solid game at wide receiver in the opener, he went back to doing a little bit of everything on Friday.
He made four catches for 57 receiving yards. He also carried the ball seven times for 31 rushing yards. He collected a touchdown in both facets, too.
“He’s gritty, man,” quarterback Mason Palmer said on the Your Live Event postgame show. “He gets little bumps and bruises. … He comes right back in, wherever you need him. He gives 100% every time.”
Down 14-7 late in the first half, Heilman made a 13-yard touchdown reception right as time expired.
He also had a pair of strong kick returns. He had one to open the second half that started Devils Lake’s next drive on the Central Cass 46-yard line. The Firebirds took 11 plays to get it back in the end zone — which included a 17-yard reception and a three-yard touchdown rush for Heilman.
Max Palmer picked up the two-point conversion after Mason Palmer had missed a point-after attempt earlier. Devils Lake took a 21-14 lead with 6:37 left in the third quarter.
The Mason-to-Max connection comes up big
Speaking of Max Palmer — twin brother of quarterback Mason Palmer — he had some big gains at wide receiver that fueled Devils Lake to victory.
Besides the two-point conversion catch, Mason made five successful passes to Max for a total of 83 yards.
In the first quarter, Max made receptions of 16 and 26 yards on back-to-back plays. Mason was later sacked to end that drive.
A quarter later, Devils Lake was running out of time and stuck on Central Cass’s 43-yard line. Mason flung one up that Max caught at the 13. The Firebirds took a timeout as soon as he made contact with the ball, in order to squeeze in one more play before halftime.
That final play turned out to be the 13-yard touchdown by Heilman. But it was Max Palmer’s 30-yard reception that set it up.
In the second half, Mason was in trouble in the backfield. He threw one that Max managed to catch barely inside the sideline for a six-yard gain. At the time, it was a 21-21 game, and Devils Lake turned it over on downs after another sack.
But another big Mason-to-Max connection fueled the Firebirds’ final touchdown drive. With Devils Lake in the red zone, Max caught a pass and was taken down just inches from the goal line. While Max fell short of his own touchdown, his pass set up a perfect opportunity for Exner to run in on the next play.
Weston Nelson’s interception seals the deal
Central Cass ate up a good chunk of the fourth quarter with a 67-yard drive that ended in a turnover on downs.
Devils Lake had the ball with 3:10 left in the game. A moderately lengthy drive could have put the game away right there.
It didn’t exactly go that way. Three carries from Exner and Heilman got the Firebirds nine yards, but on 4th and 1, they had to punt. Central Cass suddenly had 2:37 on the clock with a chance to tie it up, starting from Devils Lake’s 40-yard line.
They tried two pass plays and got no gain. Then, on 3rd and 10, they went for a pass down to the 25. Nelson was right on top of receiver Blaise Cotton — and the 6-foot-1 Devils Lake senior got his hands on it first. Nelson held onto the ball as he came down for a pickoff that effectively ended the game.
The Firebirds didn’t totally make it easy. But Nelson’s pick saved them from massive danger in the final minutes.
“Earlier, I got burnt on that same play,” Nelson said on Your Live Event. “And so I waited back, and it came right to me.”
Nelson’s interception was one of two Devils Lake made on the night. Coby Dronen Levitt had one in the final seconds of the first quarter.
Devils Lake proves itself against quality opponent
After not being able to handle No. 2 Kindred, a win over No. 3 Central Cass could go a long way.
Rather than coming home winless, the Firebirds will bring a 1-1 record into homecoming week.
Similar to when they beat Jamestown last year, they’ve proved they can overtake a higher-ranked opponent. Now the question is whether they can keep it rolling.
“It’s a great feeling, man. We’ve just got to keep our energy up,” Mason Palmer said on Your Live Event. “We’ve got to keep playing our game, keep working hard in practice, and we’ll get it done.”
Last year, the Firebirds’ win over then-No. 2 Jamestown was deflated by a loss to unranked Wahpeton in their homecoming game. The homecoming foe will be Wahpeton again this year on Friday at 6 p.m.
The Huskies no longer have star running back Treyton Mauch, who graduated this past spring. They’re 0-2 on the season.
But as they learned last year, they can’t take Wahpeton lightly. They’ll look to improve to a winning record with a victory this week — the first of three straight weeks with a home game.
