RISON - Cashing in on two of Bismarck's four second half turnovers, the Rison Wildcats broke open a tight game during the final quarter to down the Lions, 30-19, in the second round of the Class 3A state playoffs last Friday night at frigid George Walker Field of Champions. It was the second win of the season for Rison over Bismarck, the Wildcats having defeated the Lions, 34-31, at home back in early September. The win improved Rison to 10-0, as the Wildcats moved on to the quarterfinals, while the Lions closed their campaign at 6-5.
Statistically, the two teams battled on almost even terms in first downs and total yardage. However, one glaring difference was that Rison had no turnovers, while Bismarck had five - three lost fumbles and a pair of interceptions. In their first meeting, the 'Cats had no turnovers; the Lions, three. Rison, which had to overcome an 11-point fourth quarter deficit in the first game to pull out the victory, never trailed in the rematch.
'I was very proud of our effort and the way we played,' Rison head coach Clay Totty said. 'I believe we were locked in, which you have to be at this stage. We did a better job against their pass than in the first game. To hold them (Bismarck) to 19 points was big. Of course, turnovers played a huge part in the game, and not having any ourselves, I believe, can be at-tributed to focus. And we forced two of their lost fumbles. They are a good team, and their defensive front is solid and gave us problems.'
When asked about the Lions going to a power ground game at the start of the second half, Totty said, 'We had not seen that. We had always seen them in the spread. It surprised us.' Laughing, Totty said, the Lions' offensive change would be the equivalent of Rison abandoning its run game and going to a spread.
Defensively, Totty said Bradyn Dupuy and Blaine Dixon had 8 tackles apiece, while Dolten Yardley, ZaKyler Walker and Ayden Laws followed on the tackle chart. ...
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