FIELD TWP — North Woods fed Bigfork a steady diet of TaySean Boshey-Wilkerson runs on a cold, rainy Tuesday night, and it was more than the Huskies could handle as the Grizzlies nabbed a 30-8 win and a ticket into the second round of the Section 7A football playoffs.
Boshey-Wilkerson had a monster game, rushing for 226 yards, 76 percent of the Grizzlies’ total yards, and scored three touchdowns. The junior back averaged nine yards per carry, toting the ball 25 times.
Boshey-Wilkerson’s first score came after the Grizzlies got the game’s first big break, a fumble recovery at the Bigfork 30. He capped off the short drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, and junior quarterback Jett Lambert ran in the conversion for an 8-0 first-quarter lead.
The Huskies were poised to answer right back, driving from their own 43 to a second down at the North Woods two-yard line. But the Grizzlies turned them away on three consecutive plays, with junior James Yernatich getting into the backfield for the final tackle to snuff out the scoring threat.
Starting at the five-yard line, Boshey-Wilkerson gave North Woods some breathing room with a big run to the 39. A solid drive came to an abrupt end with a North Wood fumble recovered by the Huskies at their own 32.
North Woods defensive coordinator Mark Fabish had the Grizzlies dialed in just right for most of the game, and they quickly gave the ball back to the offense at the North Woods 42 on a four-and-out series.
The Grizzlies faced a fourth-and-six at the Bigfork 23 when Boshey-Wilkerson bolted through the right side of the defense for his second score of the night, putting North Woods up 14-0 with 3:45 remaining in the half.
Bigfork received the kick to start the second half but coughed up the ball on a fumble recovered by the Grizzlies at their own 48.
They quickly drove to the Bigfork seven, and Boshey-Wilkerson appeared to score his third touchdown, but it was nullified by a holding penalty that put the ball back at the 15.
Undeterred, Boshey-Wilkerson carried the ball to the five and then scampered to the left pylon for the score. Lambert’s conversion put the Grizzlies up 22-0 with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter.
The Huskies responded with their only scoring drive of the game, a 58-yard journey capped by a two-yard touchdown run and conversion to make the score 22-8 with 48 seconds left in the quarter.
Bigfork kept the momentum by recovering a Grizzlies’ fumble on the first play after the kickoff, and a personal foul on North Woods moved the ball to the Grizzlies 27. But a holding call against the Huskies moved the ball back to the 38, and on fourth down, sophomore Cedar Holman intercepted a pass at the 27 and ran it back to the North Woods 49.
That set up the drive that crushed any Huskies hopes for a comeback. Aided by a rare sideline interference call against Bigfork, the Grizzlies marched to the three-yard line where Lambert ran it in for the touchdown. He scored the conversion as well, and the Grizzlies held on from there for the 30-8 win.
Senior Tristan Vidal, sophomore Vinny Pascuzzi, Yernatich, and Holman all made strong contributions to the Grizzlies’ defensive effort. Vidal had four unassisted tackles, three assists, and recovered a fumble.
Pascuzzi had three solo takedowns and eight assists. Yernatich had three solos with two tackles for losses and four assists, and Holman recorded a sack, forced and recovered a fumble, and grabbed an interception.
On offense, Lambert added 10 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown, Yernatich tallied 18 yards and a conversion on seven carries, and junior Carson Johnson tacked on 15 yards on three carries. With Boshey-Wilkerson’s 226-yard performance and unfavorable weather, Lambert attempted only two passes, completing one to senior John Warren for two yards.
Head Coach Joel Anderson praised the play of his team after the game.
“We did exactly what we needed to do here tonight,” Anderson said. “We had a couple of other guys dinged up and Tay stepped up big in that spot, a fantastic job by him. He found the holes. In these conditions, he shortened his steps and he got the edge. He just continued to run hard all night long.”
And those holes were there to find because of a strong game by the offensive line.
“They played a very, very nice game,” Anderson said. “They read things very well and picked up what Bigfork was putting in front of us. They made a lot of calls on their own tonight, which was fantastic to see. And in these conditions, to be able to run the ball like we did is a testament to the line.”
Next up for the Grizzlies is a Saturday road matchup against the section’s No. 1 seed, Cook County. The Vikings are undefeated and beat the Grizzlies 20-0 in the regular season. But that was Cook County’s second-lowest point total of the season, and the Grizzlies drove the ball well before faltering on two red-zone scoring opportunities. If North Woods can avoid costly turnovers that have plagued them at times this season, this should be a good game that could tilt in the Grizzlies’ favor.