Over the past few seasons, the matchup between Crosby-Ironton and Pine City has been a close one. Each of the teams had won one of the past two games by one possession. This one did not end a one possession game, but it was close as late as three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Rangers of the Crosby-Ironton pulled ahead to beat the Dragons by a final score of 36-22.
The game was very slow paced as both teams moved the ball slowly up and down the field. Although Crosby-Ironton almost doubled the Dragons in yards, Pine City kept the Ranger lead to one possession late down the stretch. The two teams punted minimal times in the game, and there were not a lot of turnovers meaning that the teams had to convert on their chances on the offensive side of the ball. The Dragons scored on two of their three offensive possessions in the first half, but could only convert on one of their second half drives giving the Rangers a chance to take the lead and win the game.
On the offensive side of the ball, senior Konnor Jusczak was under center for the Dragons. He had one touchdown and 67 yards through the air in his second start of the season. The running back core led the way on Friday, running for 188 yards. Although it was Tryston West’s low yardage mark on the ground for the season at 77, he still broke the 100 total yards adding 35 receiving yards. He scored the Dragons second touchdown of the game in the second quarter. The other touchdowns were scored by Duke Waxberg on a 4-yard reception and George Ausmus on a 4-yard run. This was Ausmus’s first touchdown of the season.
The Dragons return to the airwaves of WCMP this Friday for a homecoming matchup against the Aitkin Gobblers. You can listen to this and all Dragon football games on 106.5 FM, 1350 AM, or streamed live on wcmpradio.com.
Photo Credit: Ethan Gilman
