END OF THE ROAD
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As disappointment lingered in a locker room still coming to grips with the finality of the 2022 football season, Fort Dodge head coach Nik Moser chose to focus on his seniors and their overall body of work rather than dwell on a 44-16 loss to 10th-ranked (Class 4A) Le Mars on Friday.
There was no sense in spending too much time describing what transpired on a perfect evening weather-wise inside Dodger Stadium: the Bulldogs (6-3 overall, 3-2 in Class 4A, District 1) were, simply put, the better squad in clinching an at-large playoff berth with their second consecutive clutch victory.
Le Mars rode the momentum from an upset win over district champion Spencer a week ago and delivered another impressive performance against FDSH. Five of the Bulldogs' six touchdowns were on plays of 25 yards or more -- a concern for Moser beforehand, given Le Mars had done the same thing to the Tigers last Friday.
"I give them credit…they're a good football team," Moser said. "They deserved to win and showed a lot of fight in coming back after a tough loss to Denison-(Schleswig) a few weeks ago. We knew they had some big-play capabilities, and they hit a few against us.
"We didn't play our best. I think all of our guys would admit that. It's a hard pill to swallow, because endings are always difficult. I don't care if it happens in Week 9 or further down the road. Taking off that jersey for the last time is one of the hardest things you have to do as an athlete."
The Bulldogs struck first after the two teams traded punts through the opening four possessions of the contest, as Conner Jalas broke free on a 3rd-and-8 and sprinted away from the Dodger secondary for a 76-yard touchdown burst late in the first quarter. It was 14-0 Le Mars at halftime after another third-down conversion in a goal-to-go opportunity, which had been set up by a 28-yard reception on 3rd-and-12.
"They converted on 3rd-and-long a few times and executed better and more consistently than we did," Moser said. "It was frustrating, but we weren't out of it (at halftime)."
Fort Dodge (4-5, 2-3) fell into a field-position rut in the third quarter, as the Bulldogs started possessions at the FDSH 45-, 34-, 35-, 45- and 22-yard line on consecutive possessions. A rare Dodger fumble -- just their third lost ball of the year -- set up a 27-yard scoring strike from Teagen Kasel to Alex Allen, then Beau Wadle slipped through a number of attempted tackles for a 34-yard TD jaunt to make it 28-0 late in the third and essentially put the game out of reach.
It was 37-0 by the time Fort Dodge got on the board, as senior Connor Carver hit classmate Javion Jondle for two long scoring strikes spanning 63 and 55 yards. Carver cleared the 4,000-yard mark for his career in the process, with Jondle going over 2,000 yards of receiving before all was said and done.
Carver had 230 passing yards and 95 rushing, with Jondle hauling in 12 throws for 155 yards. Jondle (151 catches) finished his career one reception ahead of Trey Mosley on the all-time school charts, and tied Tysen Kershaw with 24 touchdowns all-time.
FDSH senior Kaleb Lynch led the way in both overall tackles and tackles for loss.
Le Mars was relentless on the ground, rushing 42 times for 275 yards. All-district tailback Elijah Dougherty broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, which helped him clear the century mark for the game (18 carries, 111 yards).
The Dodgers had been plus-six on the season in turnover margin before Friday, but were a minus-3 against the Bulldogs.
"There are 18 seniors who are struggling and taking all of this hard -- I reminded them that's normal, given the energy and passion they put into this sport. It should be," Moser said. "But I'll also remind them they were a big part of our program the last two or even three years, and everything we accomplished. A lot of them were on the field for our (7-3) playoff team (in 2021).
"I'm proud of them. One night doesn't define who they are on or off the field. They have plenty of reasons to hold their heads high. They put in the work and finished their commitment to Fort Dodge football. We as a staff and a school appreciate that."
Carver, Jondle, Lynch, Orion Larson-Trott, Tucker Pederson, Collin Munter, Keaton Nichols, Nate Opande, Kyron Wilson, Max Morud, Noah Stanley, Conner Ely, Carmelo Hughes, Karson Ludwig, Kadin Nekvinda, Creighton Peed, Alex Hebert and Davion Lockman wore the Dodger uniform for the final time on Friday.
FD L
First Downs 14 12
Rushes-Yards 22-129 42-275
Comp-Att-Int 18-34-2 8-15-0
Passing Yards 230 103
Total Offense 359 378
Punts 6-32.5 6-36.5
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 10-90 7-65
Le Mars 7 7 14 16 -- 44
Fort Dodge 0 0 0 16 -- 16
Scoring Summary
Le Mars -- Conner Jalas (76-yard run), 2:28 left first quarter. Jovany Kabongo kick.
Le Mars -- Beau Wadle (3-yard pass from Teagen Kasel), 8:11 left second. Kabongo kick.
Le Mars -- Alex Allen (27-yard pass from Kasel), 5:18 left third. Kabongo kick.
Le Mars -- Wadle (34-yard run), 2:27 left third. Kabongo kick.
Le Mars -- Kabongo (21-yard field goal), 10:04 left fourth.
Le Mars -- Elijah Dougherty (65-yard run), 9:41 left fourth. Kick failed.
Fort Dodge -- Javion Jondle (63-yard pass from Connor Carver), 8:44 left fourth. Jondle run.
Fort Dodge -- Jondle (55-yard pass from Carver), 4:54 left fourth. Jondle pass to Grant Williams.
Le Mars -- Wadle (25-yard pass from Kasel), 1:39 left fourth. Kabongo kick.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Fort Dodge: Connor Carver 18-95, Orion Larson-Trott 3-34, Tucker Pederson 1-0. Le Mars: Elijah Dougherty 18-111, Conner Jalas 8-92, Beau Wadle 3-43, Teagen Kasel 7-31, Jovany Kabongo 3-6, Kole Carpenter 2-(minus-3), Wichieng Hosnyang 1-(minus-5).
PASSING -- Fort Dodge: Connor Carver 18-34-2-230. Le Mars: Teagen Kasel 8-15-0-103.
RECEIVING -- Fort Dodge: Javion Jondle 12-155, Nate Opande 2-33, Grant Williams 2-22, Kyron Wilson 2-19. Le Mars: Beau Wadle 4-36, Elijah Dougherty 1-28, Alex Allen 1-27, Conner Jalas 1-9, Sione Fifita 1-3.