Photo by Ryan Timmerman/Sioux City Journal: Jamarius Gibbs-Green of Fort Dodge the ball against Le Mars on Thursday night. The senior ran for 271 yards and accounted for three touchdowns.

LE MARS — A game dominated by big plays and offensive prowess came down to a defensive stand here Thursday, as Le Mars stopped ninth-ranked (Class 4A) Fort Dodge in a goal-to-go situation late and then drove the length of the field to pull out a 44-37 victory over the dispirited Dodgers at Jim Lorentzen Field.

Fort Dodge (5-2 overall, 2-1 in Class 4A, District 1) appeared to be in the driver’s seat with under four minutes left in a tie contest, reaching the Bulldogs’ 2-yard line on a dizzying array of Jamar Gibbs-Green runs and Tru McBride passes. But when the Dodgers needed six more feet, Le Mars (4-3, 2-1) clamped down defensively and stuffed the visitors on four consecutive plays — recovering a fumble at its own 1 to regain possession.

Instead of playing for overtime or trying to avoid a safety, the Bulldogs gambled and completed a 52-yard pass from the shadow of their end zone past midfield on first down to suddenly give them a chance to win in regulation. They narrowly converted on fourth down with a favorable spot to keep hopes alive, then found the end zone four plays later to cap a 99-yard drive in less than two minutes with the go-ahead score.

A game of wild swings, five ties and seven lead changes had tilted in favor of Le Mars for good.

“It’s obviously tough to swallow — especially because it wasn’t for lack of effort,” FDSH head coach Nik Moser said. “You can’t point to one thing or one side of the ball. When you’re on the road against a quality opponent, you have to execute and we didn’t do that on a consistent enough basis.

“The sun comes up tomorrow, and we have a football game next Friday. We’re not going to get down on each other or make excuses. We have to play better and coach better. We didn’t respond to the good things we did or the bad things we did particularly well. You add it all up and it’s hard to win that way given these circumstances.”

Gibbs-Green had a monstrous performance, ripping off a career-high 271 rushing yards and hitting paydirt three times from more than 50 yards out. Gibbs-Green put the Dodgers up 7-0 almost immediately with a 60-yard touchdown run, and added a magical stop-and-go 71-yard TD scamper up the gut early in the third quarter to pull Fort Dodge even at 23.

The senior then caught a screen pass from McBride and scooted into the end zone from 52 yards out with 10:41 left in the fourth quarter to make it 37-30. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they wouldn’t score again.

After Le Mars tied it at 37, Fort Dodge began its nine-play, 79-yard drive that used over five minutes of clock from its own 20 down to the Bulldog 1 before the backbreaking turnover.

“We had a lot of positives,” Moser said. “We just weren’t able to sustain the success or finish off a lot of what we started.

“We’ll watch the film, find the good and learn from the bad. We were close. But being close and finishing off the win often comes down to those little things it takes to put you over the top.”

The Dodgers had 563 yards of total offense, with McBride throwing for 234. Senior Royce Pederson caught a 20-yard TD pass from McBride, and Noah Daniel hauled in a 45-yarder on a trick play out of the wildcat formation that both began and ended with the ball in the hands of the FDSH junior.

Kicker Albert Myrvold made a 44-yard field goal — the program’s longest since Ty Littzen’s 48-yarder in 2010.

Gibbs-Green’s rushing total was the seventh-best single-game performance in school history.

The Bulldogs, who were 7-2 and a 4A playoff qualifier a year ago, had nearly 500 yards of offense themselves. Jami Siztmann, a junior, threw three touchdown passes and had 182 yards passing with 78 more rushing. Andrew Grant (113 yards) and Jude Dougherty (85) added to the balanced Le Mars rush attack, which accumulated 316 yards on the ground.

The home squad won the turnover battle, 3-1. Jesse Egli recovered a fumble for Fort Dodge, which began this week 11th in the 4A RPI rankings.

This contest was played a night earlier than usual because of an officiating shortage in the area.

The Dodgers return to action next Friday at home versus Sioux City West (0-6, 0-2) for Senior Night, before heading to Spencer to take on the Tigers (4-2, 2-0).

Score by Quarters

Fort Dodge 10 7 13 7 — 37

Le Mars 13 7 10 14 — 44

Scoring Summary

Fort Dodge — Jamarius Gibbs-Green (60-yard run), 10:42 left first quarter. Albert Myrvold kick.

Le Mars — Tycen Augustine (38-yard pass from Jami Sitzmann), 7:44 left first. Jovany Kabongo kick.

Fort Dodge — Albert Myrvold (44-yard field goal), 3:41 left first.

Le Mars — Kabongo (1-yard run), 0:48 left first. Kick blocked.

Fort Dodge — Noah Daniel (58-yard pass from Tru McBride), 8:55 left second. Myrvold kick.

Le Mars — Augustine (14-yard pass from Sitzmann), 1:12 left second. Kabongo kick.

Le Mars — Kabongo (19-yard field goal), 8:58 left third.

Fort Dodge — Gibbs-Green (71-yard run), 7:04 left third. Kick failed.

Le Mars — Jude Dougherty (20-yard run), 5:26 left third. Kabongo kick.

Fort Dodge — Royce Pederson (20-yard pass from McBride), 0:17 left third. Myrvold kick.

Fort Dodge — Gibbs-Green (52-yard pass from McBride), 10:41 left fourth. Myrvold kick.

Le Mars — Andrew Grant (38-yard run), 8:06 left fourth. Kabongo kick.

Le Mars — Sy Bixenman (5-yard pass from Siztmann), 1:36 left fourth. Kabongo kick.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Fort Dodge: Jamarius Gibbs-Green 28-271, Noah Daniel 8-34, Tru McBride 3-20, Tytrell Mosley 1-4. Le Mars: Andrew Grant 10-113, Jude Dougherty 16-85, Jami Siztmann 11-78, Jovany Kabongo 8-39.

Passing – Fort Dodge: Tru McBride 12-21-2-234. Le Mars: Jami Sitzmann 9-15-0-182.

Receiving – Fort Dodge: Jamarius Gibbs-Green 2-64, Noah Daniel 1-55, Tytrell Mosley 4-47, Royce Pederson 3-41, Dalton Eckley 2-27. Le Mars: Tycen Augustine 3-94, Andrew Grant 2-60, Sy Bixenman 4-21, Jayden Nelson 1-7.