The first of five first quarter touchdowns for Verndale was scored by Craig Orlando on a 6 yard run.  Sophomore Gideon Ervasti added the two-point conversion, giving the Pirates an 8-0 lead.  Ervasti ran in from 16 yards out for the second TD and Jake Ismil scored the two-point conversion, making it 16-0.  Ismil’s 47 yard TD run and a two-point conversion pass from Dilan Orlando to Brandon Greenwaldt increased the lead to 24-0.  Zak Olsson intercepted a Thomas Zwiers pass and returned it for a touchdown with 6:57 left in the opening quarter to make it a 30-0 lead.  The final score of the first quarter came on a pass from Dilan Orlando to Jack Ismil that covered 61 yards.  Orlando then hit Jaden Finck for the two-point conversion, establishing the 38-0 lead at the end of one quarter. 

“Verndale came out ready to play and we did not,” said Hillcrest Head Coach Derrick Clark.  “Three first quarter turnovers doomed and us we fell behind big early on.  We told our guys before the game that whoever controlled the line of scrimmage would win this game and that was definitely Verndale in the first quarter.” 

Third quarter touchdowns came from Ismil on a 42 yard run and Hunter Schulke on a 5 yard run, giving Verndale a 50-0 lead.  The Comets only TD came on a 14 yard pass from Caden Fischer to Abraham Burleigh in the fourth quarter.

Verndale had 389 yards of total offense to 199 for Hillcrest.  The Comets had 138 rushing yards and the Pirates finished with 299 yards on the ground. 

Dilan Orlando completed 5-of-7 passes for 90 yards and Ismil hauled in three passes for 75 yards.  Leading rushers were Ismil (4 attempts, 120 yards) and Craig Orlando (8 carries, 115 yards).

“Defensively, we were led by Simon Strommen.  I thought he played a great sideline to sideline game and finished with 10 tackles,” reported Coach Clark.  “Offensively, we were able to move the ball better after the first quarter and Ben Christenson led our ground attack with 99 yards,” noted Clark.  “As the game wore on Ben did a great job of running hard and finishing his runs.  Also, sophomore Caden Fischer was forced to step in at quarterback in the second quarter as Thomas Zwiers got injured and was unable to return. Caden did a great job running our offense and moving the ball down the field.” 

Zwiers completed 3-of-7 passes for 40 yards and Christenson had his 99 yards on 24 carries.  Kaleb Swenson (2 catches, 29 yards) was the leading receiver for the Comets.