The home team scored twice in the first quarter on runs of 3 and 19 yards by Josh Wagner.  A two-point conversion run by John Fontaine following Wagner’s first TD helped Polk County West build a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Pelican Rapids scored with 6:42 to play in the first half on a 6-yard run by McHale Korf, trimming the lead to 14-6, however, a 24 yard TD pass from Sam Gapp to John Fontaine with just 31 seconds left in the half, followed by a two-point conversion run, increased the Polk County West lead to 22-6.

A 3-yard run by Gapp with 1:06 remaining in the third and a 1-yard run by Fontaine at 6:53 of the fourth quarter completed the scoring.

“We had too many turnovers against a very good football team,” stated Pelican Rapids Head Coach David Haugen.  “Losing 3 fumbles in a half doesn't turn out well very often and that was the case in this game.  The touchdown we gave up with 30 seconds left in the first half was maybe the biggest play of the game.  If we could have kept it 14-6 the game has a different feel going into the second half but that wasn't the case.  I'm confident our guys will respond well and come back ready for the playoffs beginning on Tuesday.”

Polk County West ran for 302 yards and had 363 total offensive yards in the game, while Pelican Rapids finished with 56 rushing yards and 65 passing yards for 121 total yards.

Korf completed 5-of-8 passes for 65 yards and ran for 28 yards on 8 carries.  Jayden Rutherford led the Viking receivers with three receptions for 44 yards.

Polk County West was led by Gapp (4 completions, 4 attempts, 61 yards), Gage Wavra (14 carries, 91 yards), Wagner (10 carries, 88 yards) and Fontaine (16 carries, 71 yards.  Fontaine caught two passes for 40 yards and Wagner had two catches for 21 yards.

Defensive leaders for the Vikings were Carson McNeal (6 solo tackles, 5 assisted tackles), Matt Ziebel (3 solo tackles, 7 assists), Johnny Ziebell (3 solo tackles, 6 assists) and Logan Fahje (3 solo tackles, 6 assists).  Rutherford intercepted a pass for the Vikings.

Pelican Rapids received the number two seed in Section 8AA and will host United North Central at 6:00pm Tuesday at Chauncey Martin Field in Pelican Rapids.