FARGO — Kittson County Central briefly considered punting on fourth-and-2 from its own 28-yard line late in the fourth quarter of Thursday's Section 8 9-man championship game.
While the coaching staff was debating, assistant coach Terry Kent offered his opinion.
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"He said, 'Real easy piece of advice — but just go win it,'" head coach Cory Waling said. "Eli did that."
Senior quarterback Eli Peterson put his head down and met a wave of Goodridge-Grygla defenders on his rush forward, but managed to stay on his feet.
Peterson bounced to the outside, found an edge and raced 72 yards for a touchdown to ice the top-seeded Bearcats' 27-12 victory over second-seeded Goodridge/Grygla at the Fargodome.
"Our coach was just like, 'Let's go win this thing,'" Peterson said. "So we call a QB wedge, I've just got to put my head down, bounced outside and there it was."
Kittson County Central will return to the Minnesota 9-man state tournament next week with many of the same players who helped the program win the Section 8 9-man championship a season ago.
It's a return that's been on Peterson's mind since last season's state semifinal loss to Hillcrest Lutheran Academy at U.S. Bank Stadi...