Jax Johnson (Photo courtesy of Larry Stokke)
PARK RIVER — Langdon Area/Munich justified its spot at the top of the Division A football rankings on Friday.
The No. 1 Cardinals squared off with the only other undefeated team in the division, No. 4 Park River Area. In a battle for first place in Region 2, LA/M (8-0, 6-0) gave Park River (7-1, 5-1) its first loss of the season, 42-22.
Coming into the night, neither team had allowed more than 14 points in game. That streak was broken for both teams by halftime.
“We knew going in there was gonna be some highs and lows,” Cardinals head coach Josh Krivarchka said. “We had to kind of ride the waves.”
LA/M came out rolling, and it had the early makings of a rout. The Cardinals drove the ball 77 yards on their opening possession. Quarterback Jax Johnson made seven carries for 28 yards, including a two-yarder into the end zone.
Johnson leaned on the run game for most of the night. But he did complete a pass to a wide-open Tanner McDonald, who got the Cardinals in the red zone with a 39-yard reception.
With LA/M already up 7-0, it forced a three-and-out. Things spiraled quickly as Landon Schneider blocked the punt, and on the very next play, running back Sam Davis rushed for a 36-yard touchdown.
But the Aggies got back into it with a big play of their own. Jaxon Omdahl threw to Brennan Schramm, who broke a tackle and found an open route for a 66-yard touchdown rush.
A successful two-point conversion made it 14-8 before the end of the first quarter.
“We got off to a good start, and then they punched us right back in the face,” Krivarchka said.
The Cardinals’ next possession was fueled by a similar formula: a series of Johnson carries with the help of a 17-yard reception by McDonald.
With 12 yards to go, Johnson made a pair of six-yard passes: one to Theo Romfo and another to Eastyn Schaefer. LA/M kept its lead fairly comfortable at 21-8.
Park River wound up driving the ball for most of the half’s remainder. Jaxon and Tucker Omdahl combined for nine carries on an 80-yard touchdown drive. The final 36 yards came from Kieran Sullivan, who broke through for a 36-yard reception after catching a screen.
T. Omdahl picked up the two-point conversion. Despite controlling the game early on, LA/M led just 21-16 at halftime.
And the Cardinals knew Park River would receive the ball to start the second half.
“The biggest thing we told the kids is, ‘We want to be in these type of football games,’” Krivarchka said. “We haven’t been in one like this where we’ve faced a little adversity. And we want to see our kids respond.”
LA/M came out of halftime with a crucial stop. Park River got a 26-yard run from T. Omdahl, but then turned it over on downs on the next series. Romfo capped the drive with his first of two sacks on the night.
“We just had to work harder and stop their run game,” Johnson said.
Johnson did almost nothing but carry the ball on the following drive, as LA/M extended its lead. He muscled his way through for a 17-yard touchdown rush, then picked up the two-point conversion for good measure.
The Cardinals led 29-16 after three quarters. With Park River barely still in it, an LA/M touchdown midway through the fourth quarter essentially sealed the deal. Davis ran all the way from the Cardinals’ own 30 to the Park River two-yard line. He was stopped twice, but Johnson eventually ran the remaining two yards to make it a 20-point game.
Johnson didn’t complete any passes in the second half. But he still had 98 passing yards on the night, plus 115 rushing yards.
The senior quarterback has been the fireplug of this top-ranked team all season.
“He’s a special player,” Krivarchka said. “Didn’t throw the ball a ton tonight, but we kind of put it on our guys up front. We just wanted to run, run, run. He’s a hard-nosed kid, lowers his shoulders and he always makes the right reads.”
Park River’s first points of the fourth quarter came with 4:38 left. Omdahl completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Noah Troftgruben. The Aggies still just didn’t have enough time remaining, with a 14-point deficit.
Davis then made another big run — a 21-yarder — for his second touchdown of the night.
Davis led LA/M with 186 rushing yards.
“He’s a downhill runner — it’s like he’s shot out of a cannon when he runs,” Krivarchka said. “He runs hard. He’s physical. And he’s just fun to watch.”
Trailing 42-22, Park River turned it over on downs with about a minute left.
After the Aggies totaled 182 yards of offense in the first half, the Cardinals held them to 116 in the second.
“They’ve got some really good athletes out there,” Krivarchka said. “They’ve got some guys that they can get in the space. And they put us into some tough matchups. Just proud of how we adjusted at halftime better — we knew we had to slow down certain guys, and thought we did a lot better job in the second half.”
The Cardinals held on for their toughest win yet — but still a sizable victory against one of their biggest challengers in Division A.
They’re now the lone undefeated team in the class.
“It gives us all the momentum in the world,” Johnson said.
LA/M will try to finish an undefeated regular season at home against Grafton on Thursday.
After that, the Cardinals will return to the playoffs, where they lost in the semifinal round last year. The program won three consecutive state titles from 2018 to 2020.
“It’s a big confidence builder,” Krivarchka said. “In order to think you’re one of the best teams in the state, you’ve got to beat one of the best teams. And Park River, they’re a quality football team. They’re gonna be right there when the playoffs get rolling, and so we could see them again. It always feels good to win, though.”
