WILLISTON -- Dickinson High had found another freshman running back.
Dylan Skabo rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns Friday night to help the Midgets claim a 35-14 West Region victory over winless Williston.
"He played like a senior tonight," Dickinson head coach Dennis Morris said. "He takes the ball and he runs hard. He's pretty dang good at cutting off the guard's blocks. He's going to be a big-time player."
Skabo, however, was only a part of a balanced Dickinson offense that built a two-touchdown halftime lead and expanded on it in the second half.
The Midgets (4-2, 3-1 West) rushed for 267 yards and finished with a season-high 402 total yards.
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"We finally have enough guys where we're rolling those tailbacks and they all did pretty dang well," Morris said.
Senior quarterback Nick Lupo was 7 of 10 for 135 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Tyrell Parker had a 31-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter and the rest of Lupo's passes went to senior receiver Nate Moody, who had 104 yards receiving and a 34-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
"The passing game was our focus all week for practice," Morris said. "(Lupo) got some looks that he liked."
Ryan Yates added 53 yards rushing, including a 23-yard TD run in the first quarter.
Jarek Wigness rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns for the Coyotes (0-6, 0-4 West).
The win puts Dickinson into a three-way tie for first place in the West Region -- before tiebreakers -- with Bismarck High and Bismarck Century. Minot High and Mandan are both right in the mix too.
Minot visits the Midgets at the Badlands Activities Center at 7 p.m. next Friday.
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"That's five teams with one loss all fighting for four (playoff) spots," Morris said. "That's the way it is. We talk about it as much as we can."
Dickinson 7 14 7 7 -- 35
Williston 7 0 0 7 -- 14
DHS-Ryan Yates 23 run (D.J. Weismann kick good)
WHS-Jarek Wigness 18 run (Marcus Fearing kick good)
DHS-Tyrell Parker 31 pass from Nick Lupo (Weismann kick good)
DHS-Dylan Skabo 13 run (Weismann kick good)
DHS-Skabo 32 run (Weismann kick good)
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WHS-Wigness 7 run (Thompson kick good)
DHS-Nate Moody 34 pass from Lupo (Weismann kick good)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: DHS, Skabo 10-144, Yates 6-53, Adam Grimsley 8-26, Moody 5-18, Brett Braunagel 4-26. WHS, Wigness 23-86, Fearing 12-11, Haaland 1-(minus-1), Paul Michaelson.
PASSING: DHS, Lupo 7-10-1 135. WHS, Fearing 7-15-1 107, Wigness 1-2-0 65.
RECEIVING: Moody 6-104, Parker 1-31. WHS, Haaland 2-63, Anderson 1-65, Corey Langerud 1-21 Lynch 2-10, Axtman 1-13, Wigness 1-0.
