Pirates rush to section finals
VERNDALE - Matt Moenkedick surpassed 200-yards rushing again to lead the top-seeded and second-ranked Verndale Pirates past fifth-seeded Underwood 48-0 Saturday in the semifinals of Section 4 playoffs.
Moenkedick carried 26 times for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Amos Schmidt added 115 yards and three scores and Zack Meidinger and Nathan Wiese each scored in the second half for the 9-0 Pirates.
Matt Moenkedick
Verndale dispatched the Rockets 32-24 in the second week of the regular season. This time the Pirates defense held Underwood to 41 rushing yards and 185 yards of offense compared to Verndale's 397.
Clay Cottrell, Kyle Powers and Dan Kneisl each recovered fumbles and Moenkedick finished with 11 tackles to send Verndale back to the Fargodome and the Section 4 final.
Waiting for the Pirates will be Eagle Valley, which defeated Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in the other semifinal.
Underwood 0 0 0 0 - 0
Verndale 14 14 14 6 - 48
First quarter
V-Matt Moenkedick 20 run (Amos Schmidt run) 7:30
V-Moenkedick 69 run (run failed) 3:02
Second quarter
V-Schmidt 4 run (Schmidt run) 7:02
V-Schmidt 7 run (pass failed) :44
Third quarter
V-Zack Meidinger 3 run (Brady Siedschlaw run) 4:42
V-Schmidt 6 run (run failed) 2:21
Fourth quarter
V-Nathan Wiese 1 run (run failed) 5:27
Team statistics
Rushes-yards: V 54-397, U 26-41
Pass comp-att-int-yards: V 0-2-0, U 13-28-0-144
Total offense: V 56-397, U 54-185
Individual statistics
Rushing: V-Matt Moenkedick 26-218, Amos Schmidt 10-115, Zack Meidinger 4-25, Colby Schmidt 4-13
Passing: V-Moenkedick 0-1-0, C. Schmidt 0-1-0
Overall: V 9-0, U 4-5. Next game: Verndale vs. Eagle Valley in Section 4 final at Fargodome, Fargo, N.D., 12:30 p.m. Friday.