Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Dreshaun Ross of Fort Dodge runs for a touchdown against Mason City on Friday inside Dodger Stadium.

For 18 consecutive years, the Fort Dodge football program had complete control of its series with Mason City.

Last season’s loss to the Riverhawks put the Dodgers at a sudden — albeit potentially temporary — crossroads in the rivalry.

Playing with a renewed sense of urgency and focus, head coach Nik Moser’s squad took the Decker Sporting Goods travel trophy back with an impressive 42-21 victory in their home opener on Friday inside Dodger Stadium.

Sophomore Dreshaun Ross ran for a career-best 226 yards and three touchdowns to spearhead the Fort Dodge attack. It was symbolic of the way the night went; the Dodgers imposed their will up front and on the ground, accumulating 304 rushing yards while surrendering just 34 to Mason City.

“This one is always important, of course,” said the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Ross, a state wrestling champion who already holds Div. I football offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri, Purdue and Minnesota. “It’s Mason City. We have it circled. And it’s no secret that we didn’t play well last year up there (in a 35-30 loss that snapped FDSH’s 17-game win streak against the Riverhawks). So we felt like it was important to come out, do a better job of executing and take care of business.

“This was physical, old-school football, which is the best kind — when you’re able to just wear your opponent down, and they aren’t able to do much to stop you.”

Like Ross, Dodger senior Ty Adams was on the field for the setback in 2022. His classmates and teammates vowed to make amends, coming from a much different perspective than FDSH teams of years past.

“We had both the pressure and responsibility that players here (for nearly two decades) didn’t have coming into this game: to get the Decker trophy back,” said Adams, who returned the opening kickoff 84 yards to set the tone and later hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass. “Because of how we played and what happened (a year ago), it motivated us that much more to get things back on track for each other and this program.

“That’s been our mindset from day one: to improve our leadership and the culture. If you take care of that, everything else starts to fall into place. You want to go out with a win against Mason City as a senior and hopefully build some momentum (for the weeks to come). I’m just really proud of all of our guys…we’re playing for each other and trying to prove the doubters wrong.”

Fort Dodge junior Jase Nekvinda completed an efficient 7 of 9 passes for 153 yards and a pair of scores. In addition to the Adams touchdown, Nekvinda found a streaking Cal Hartman up the middle of the field for a 77-yard TD strike on the opening play of the second quarter. Working out of a flex tight end slot, Hartman was yanked and almost dragged down before hauling in the pass and hitting paydirt anyway, leaving the pass interference flags — and the Riverhawk defenders — in his wake.

“I just think we imposed our will,” Moser said. “As a coach, you want to see what happened last year drive the kids to make sure it doesn’t happen again. To the credit of our guys, I think they took it personally and wanted to not necessarily (exact revenge), but just prove they could not only win, and do so in a very convincing way.

“We’re learning so far that we have the potential to hang our hat on being a physical football team. We saw glimpses of it last week (in a last-second loss at Webster City), and we took another step in the right direction (on Friday). Our line play was solid, and we have five or six guys who can do something with the ball (out of the backfield). They all have different strengths. Dreshaun was obviously impressive, but he’d be the first to tell you our running (attack) is going to be collective and he’s OK with that. They all are. They want this for the good of the team, the program and each other.”

Ross’s TD runs covered 6, 46 and 39 yards. Fellow sophomore Noah Daniel also hit paydirt from four yards out.

The Dodger defense forced seven Mason City punts and allowed just 1.4 yards per carry. Senior Zeke Pineda and juniors Royce Pederson and Jonathan Brown recorded sacks.

Senior quarterback Brayden Miller had 196 passing yards for the Riverhawks (1-1 overall), but Miller was under duress most of the night. He had touchdown passes to sophomore Drew Hobart covering 22 and 76 yards in the first half, but only had 58 passing yards after the intermission.

Mason City had trounced Marshalltown in its opener, 32-3.

There was a long delay in the second quarter when Riverhawk senior Reed Kruger went down with an injury after making a catch and getting hit near the FDSH sidelines. Both teams kneeled in silence first, then gathered together on the field to share a moment and exchange gestures of sportsmanship while Kruger was being treated a few feet away.

Kruger would eventually leave the field under his own power.

Moser noted the efforts of his entire squad, but highlighted the senior class, which is small compared to most and doesn’t necessarily take on a lot of the primary roles on the field.

“They wanted to be culture changers, first and foremost,” Moser said. “It’s been a goal of theirs from the start. I think about someone like (receiver) Grant Williams…he didn’t have a single catch (last night), so he won’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, but he made a difference out there with his blocking, his effort and his leadership. That’s the type of stuff you absolutely have to have on a football team: guys who are willing to accept their roles and do what it takes for the good of the group, depending on the situation.

“You never know when your number is going to be called, but if it isn’t, you still have important responsibilities and different ways to contribute. It all adds up. And for us, it added up to a win.”

The Dodgers (1-1) head to Dallas Center-Grimes on Friday for the first-ever meeting between the programs in what is being dubbed the “Beisser Lumber Bowl” because of the company’s locations in both communities. The Mustangs (0-2) dropped a 20-3 decision to Newton last night.

FD MC

First downs 17 12

Rushes-yards 38-304 25-34

Passing yards 153 196

Comp-Att-Int 7-9-0 15-27-0

Total Yards 457 230

Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 7-32.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0

Penalties-Yards 8-60 5-37

Fort Dodge 14 14 7 7 — 42

Mason City 7 7 7 0 — 21

Scoring Summary

Fort Dodge — Dreshaun Ross (6-yard run), 11:40 left first. Parker Schillerstrom kick.

Mason City — Drew Hobart (22-yard pass from Brayden Miller), 7:07 left first. Brody Lee kick.

Fort Dodge — Ross (46-yard run), 5:50 left first. Schillerstrom kick.

Fort Dodge — Cal Hartman (77-yard pass from Jase Nekvinda), 11:48 left second. Schillerstrom kick.

Fort Dodge — Ty Adams (25-yard pass from Nekvinda), 6:01 left second. Schillerstrom kick.

Mason City — Hobart (76-yard pass from Miller), 5:44 left second. Lee kick.

Fort Dodge — Ross (39-yard run), 9:56 left third. Schillerstrom kick.

Mason City — Miller (5-yard run), 0:50 left third. Lee kick.

Fort Dodge — Daniel (4-yard run), 9:33 left fourth. Schillerstrom kick.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Fort Dodge: Dreshaun Ross 22-226, Noah Daniel 8-36, Jamarius Gibbs-Green 6-34, Jase Nekvinda 2-8. Mason City: Logan Eide 3-35, Dane Hanson 3-15, Justyn Rivera 11-14, Brayden Miller 7-(minus-22), Team 1-(minus-8).

Passing — Fort Dodge: Jase Nekvinda 7-9-0-153. Mason City: Brayden Miller 15-27-0-196.

Receiving — Fort Dodge: Cal Hartman 1-77, Tytrell Mosley 4-48, Ty Adams 1-25, Noah Daniel 1-3. Mason City: Drew Hobart 4-107, Drayden Witt 2-41, Ty Sanchez-Evans 5-17, Justyn Rivera 2-16, JP Miles 1-10, Reed Kruger 1-5.