Bryar Exner (Photo by Noah Clooten)
By Mojo Hill
Get ready for some spooky playoff football.
No. 3 Devils Lake won a slugfest over Watford City on Friday, beating the Wolves 43-36. With the win, the Firebirds locked up the No. 2 seed in the West. They finished the regular season at 7-2 overall and 4-1 in region play. It’s the first time since 2017 that they’ve won seven games in a season.
Devils Lake assured that it will host a playoff game next Friday — which happens to be Halloween. Its opponent will be Grand Forks Central, which locked up the No. 3 seed in the East with a win over Grand Forks Red River.
Over at the Rough Rider Center in Watford City, the Firebirds played a game that was pretty much emblematic of their season. Their defense let up some big plays to keep the opponent in it, but Devils Lake’s offense proved too dynamic to overcome in the end.
Mason Palmer threw for 225 yards unofficially. He surpassed 2,000 for the season in what’s been a monster senior year. Speaking of enormous senior years, Bryar Exner had another explosive performance. He ran for 183 yards unofficially, adding 53 in the air. He tallied four rushing touchdowns on the night.
“Feels great to get a close win on the road and clinch home-field,” Exner said on the GameDay Media postgame show.
Devils Lake had four possessions in the first half and scored on three of them. The only thing setting it back was penalties — eight in the first half against the Firebirds. They totaled nearly 100 yards of offense on the opening drive but turned it over on downs.
The Wolves totaled nearly 400 rushing yards on the night, unofficially. Rhylie Ledahl-Berger had more than 200 of them. He got Watford City on the board first with runs of 12, 58 and three.
The Wolves went for a two-point conversion after their first score and were unsuccessful. It set off a chain of continued failed attempts throughout the night; they ended up going the entire game without any good extra points or two-point conversions.
Devils Lake took a 7-6 lead after a 10-yard touchdown run by Exner. A 42-yard pass to Coby Dronen Levitt set up the score.
The Firebirds, driving the ball early in the second quarter, were fueled by passes of 17 and 19 yards to Weston Nelson and Exner, respectively. An extra-man penalty almost cost Devils Lake, but it picked up a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line on a quarterback sneak by Palmer.
Devils Lake led 14-6, then forced a three-and-out and blocked the punt.
The Firebirds started their next drive at the Watford City 30. A few plays in, Exner sidestepped a tackle and ran 30 yards for his second score of the game. Devils Lake widened the gap to 21-6.
Watford City shot back with a 59-yard pass to Kade Singer. The Wolves found the end zone on four straight marginal runs. Their second failed two-point conversion made it a 21-12 game at halftime.
But they welcomed Devils Lake rudely to the second half. Ledahl-Berger exploded for a 69-yard touchdown run on the very first play of the third quarter to make it a 21-18 game.
The Devils Lake offense kept chugging. Nelson had a big reception of 52 yards, and a Mason-to-Max 12-yard pass got the Firebirds in the end zone.
But back came Watford City again. As part of a 71-yard drive, Ledahl-Berger had runs of 22 and 16 yards — the latter of which got him past the goal line. The Wolves kept Devils Lake’s lead as tight as 28-24 at the end of the third quarter.
Devils Lake responded with a score again on a drive that carried between the third and fourth quarter. Exner carried it six yards for a touchdown, then picked up the two-point conversion. The Firebirds once again had some breathing room, up 36-24.
Watford City just kept doing its thing. It held the ball for more than seven minutes of clock time, with a relentless series of runs.
On fourth and four, the Wolves burned Devils Lake with a hook-and-ladder — the same type of play that nearly cost the Firebirds in the fourth quarter against Dickinson last week. Devils Lake forced another fourth down at the two-yard line, but Colton Lewis managed to run in for a Watford City touchdown.
For the first time all night, the Wolves attempted an extra point. They were set back with a penalty, and the kick wasn’t close to being accurate anyway.
At 36-30 with 3:52 left, the missed conversions started to leave a real dent in Watford City’s chances.
But the Wolves did execute one thing perfectly: an onside kick to get the ball right back. Then, just two plays into the drive, Trysten DeVries broke out for a 50-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
Watford City’s second extra-point attempt was blocked to keep it knotted at 36 apiece.
In a sense, the Wolves almost scored too quickly because it gave Devils Lake more than three minutes to pounce back. It took the Firebirds less than two of those minutes to drive the ball 68 yards for a touchdown. Exner had three carries on the drive, including a 14-yard run into the end zone.
Finally, on the last possession, Watford City didn’t have a response. The Wolves turned it over on downs inside their 20-yard line with 10 seconds left. Devils Lake took a knee to put a rest to the boxing match.
Like many of the Firebirds’ wins this season, they didn’t make it as easy as it could have been. But Devils Lake has still grinded to one of its best football seasons in years. Another win would give the program its most victories in a season since 2010.
So the date, time and opponent are now set for Devils Lake’s first-round playoff contest. The Firebirds (7-2, 4-1) will host Grand Forks Central (7-2, 3-2) on Friday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Devils Lake is looking for its first playoff win since 2017.
The winner would potentially match up with the vaunted Kindred Vikings in the semifinals.
