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The Tri County Northeast Wolfpack saw their season come to an end on Thursday, Oct. 19 in the first round of the Class D1 playoffs against the Crofton Warriors.
TCNE came in as a heavy underdog, being one of the 15 seeds in the playoffs, forced to take on the undefeated Warriors for the second time this season.
The first time these two teams met up on Oct. 6, the Warriors got the best of the Wolfpack, handing them a 62-6 loss. Unfortunately for TCNE, while the fight was there, the result would be almost identical this time around.
The Warriors would come out ready to play in the first half, not wanting to play with their food at all. Crofton was able to drop 22 points in the first quarter, while holding TCNE to zero. Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, things would get worse before they got better. Crofton would go on to score 32 more points in the second quarter, making it a 54-0 ballgame at halftime, an almost impossible deficit to overcome for TCNE.
The Wolfpack wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, as they scored one touchdown on the ground courtesy of the senior Michael Dickens, as well as a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. TCNE’s defense would also find a groove in the second half, only allowing six points. But the deficit proved to be too much for the Wolfpack to overcome, as they fell to Crofton for the second time this season, this time by a score of 60-8.
Leading the way for the Wolfpack through the air was quarterback Ben Jorgensen, who completed seven of nine passes for 55 yards.
The ground was where the Wolfpack found more success, however. Out in front was Brayden McCorkindale with ten carries for 67 yards, followed by Michael Dickens who rushed for 35 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries, Jorgensen with five carries for 23 yards, Bryan Isom with two carries for 19 yards, and Blake Kneifl with three carries for eight yards.
Isom was the leader defensively with nine total tackles, followed by Jorgensen and Jackson Belt with five each, Malasek and Heikes each with four, Dickens and Dylan Boyle with three, Kneifl and Atlee Anderson with two, and the duo of Alex Kneifl and Devin Reinert each with one.
With the loss, the Wolfpack’s season has come to a close. The Wolfpack went 5-4 on the season, and is only losing two seniors this offseason, keeping the future looking bright for TCNE football.