FARGO - From the moment the Minot High School football team got off the bus for its non-conference game at Fargo Davies on Friday, it knew the game plan had changed.
Gusts of wind blew between 25 and 45 mph from north to south and made passing and kicking the ball virtually impossible in the Magicians' 21-12 win.
"We thought, 'Well, we can't really throw the ball,' " junior quarterback Alex Yanosko said. "So we looked at our running backs and our linemen and said, 'It's going to be up to you tonight.' "
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Adam Lawson/MDN
Minot High School junior quarterback Alex Yanosko eludes Fargo Davies senior linebacker Eric Peterson for a 7-yard touchdown run in the Magicians’ win Friday at Fargo Davies.
Yanosko attempted just one pass but was effective on the ground, collecting 116 yards on 22 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns for the Magicians.
Minutes into the fourth quarter, Yanosko recognized a weakness in Davies' secondary and exploited it for a 45-yard touchdown run that gave MHS (5-0) a two-score lead with 10:35 remaining.
"We had dropped back into a shotgun formation," Yanosko said. "I saw that they had dropped back into a cover 2 (zone defense). They were soft, really soft on the safeties. I thought that cutback was there if I could get to the outside and it was."
Junior running back Brady Lampert rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown, his second straight 100-yard game.
Three of Lampert's 30 carries went for double-digit yardage, something he attributes to his blockers.
"Our offensive line got good holes and I could bounce it outside and I got some yards up the lines," Lampert said. "We got some good blocks and that really helped me with my effort today."
Neither team completed a pass until Davies (1-4) sophomore quarterback Aidan Hartness found senior tight end Eric Peterson in the end zone for a 13-yard score with eleven seconds remaining.
Each team attempted several fourth-down conversions rather than punt into the wind.
"The couple punts we had only went 10, 12 yards," MHS coach Barry Holmen said. "You're not going to get much out of a punt, so going for it on fourth down was very reasonable given the conditions."
The Minot defense held Davies to 218 yards of total offense while forcing three turnovers. But the Magicians also lost senior defensive tackle Nick Nesdahl to injury in the first half.
Holmen said he was unsure the severity of Nesdahl's injury, but doesn't expect it to be season-ending.
"It might be a case where we might miss him a week or two," Holmen said. "We have to find out. We might not miss him at all. We'll see."
Minot scored on its opening possession after sophomore defensive back Josh Pizzo recovered a Davies fumble on the Eagles' second play from scrimmage. Yanosko rolled out and carried the ball untouched into the end zone a few plays later from 7 yards out.
Davies scored a defensive touchdown with 3:41 to go in the first quarter after Peterson stripped Yanosko and ran the fumble back 60 yards. Eagles senior kicker Gunnar Pauley missed his extra-point attempt. The ball didn't travel to the back line of the end zone in the wind.
The Magicians play at Bismarck Century at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29.