By GEORGE THOLE
September 29, 2011

Walking into the gridiron at Forest Lake on Friday, I was greeted by a friendly and familiar sight - the NDSU Band, "the Pride of North Dakota."

I told my wife Karen and companions Dale and Patty Hinkle that the Ponies would prevail because Forest Lake had a marching band and we had ours.

Coach Beau LaBore and his staff had the Ponies (3-1) ready to explode from the starting gate and that's what they did en route to a smashing 27-7 victory over the Rangers (1-3).

Junior quarterback Aaron Romportl wasn't flashy while making his first start, but he got the job done managing an offense that amassed 306 yards. The locals averaged 5.6 yards per play while holding the Rangers to 160 total yards (3.1 avg.).

Stillwater's offensive line that was absent against Cretin was dominant at Forest Lake while opening holes for junior Nick Anderson, who rushed for 145 yards (4.7 avg.) and three TDs, and Zach Krenz, who ran for 83 yards (11.9 avg.). Romportl was 3 of 8 passing for 77 yards, including a nifty 20-yard TD strike to Austin Holmberg.

LaBore was pleased with the bounce back effort of his troops, saying: "We practiced like a team that was focused on winning. We need to maintain that intensity this week at Mounds View."

Defensively, the locals held the Rangers to a mere 2.9 yards per rush and recorded four sacks, led by all-conference tackle Cartier Alexander with two and one each from Sam Hodnefield and Evan Ostrom. Charlie Register intercepted a pass and had a 32-yard punt return to his credit.

All told, the locals played a solid game and are looking forward to playing the Mustangs (3-1) this week.