RAY - Mott-Regent-New England opened the 9-man football playoffs on Saturday with a 38-32 victory at Ray-Powers Lake.
The Wildfire improved to 6-3 overall this year with the win, and they move on to face North Prairie next Saturday in Rolette.
Wildfire senior Josh Wallace played a role in all five of his team's touchdowns against Ray-Powers Lake - he ran for three, threw for one more and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Ray-Powers Lake led 9-8 after the first quarter following a Terek Enget touchdown and a field goal sandwiched around a 37-yard score from Wallace.
Wallace scored on runs of 6 and 36 yards in the second quarter, passing to Tanner Zentner for the conversion each time to open a 24-9 advantage.
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Ray-Powers Lake answered with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Brock Viall and a 16-yard pass from Noah Fredrickson to Aiden Nordloef.
In the third quarter, following a field goal from the home team, Wallace returned the kickoff 55 yards for another touchdown.
In the fourth, Wallace found junior receiver Clinton Perkins for a 21-yard touchdown. Fredrickson added a 1-yard scoring pass to Kyle VanBerkom later in the fourth, but the Wildfire held on for the win.
Perkins finished with three catches for 127 yards. Wallace was 5-for-6 passing for 157 yards, and he also carried 29 times for 179 yards on the ground. Hunter Crist added 61 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Mott-Regent-New England 38, Ray-Powers Lake 32
MRNE 8 16 6 8 - 38
RPL 9 12 3 8 - 32
First quarter
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RPL - Terek Enget 7 rush (kick no good)
MRNE - Josh Wallace 37 rush (Wallace run)
RPL - 37 field goal
Second quarter
MRNE - Wallace 6 rush (Wallace pass to Tanner Zentner)
MRNE - Wallace 36 rush (Wallace pass to Zentner)
RPL - Brock Viall 1 rush (kick no good)
RPL - Aiden Nordloef 16 pass from Noah Fredrickson (conversion no good)
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Third quarter
RPL - 15 field goal
MRNE - Wallace 55 kickoff return (conversion no good)
Fourth quarter
MRNE - Clinton Perkins 21 pass from Wallace (conversion good)
RPL - Kyle VanBerkom 1 pass from Fredrickson (Enget run)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: MRNE, Josh Wallace 29-179 3 TD, Hunter Crist 11-61. RPL, Terek Enget 27-95 1 TD, Noah Fredrickson 4-29, Brock Viall 5-11 1 TD.
PASSING: MRNE, Wallace 5-6 157 yards, 1 TD. RPL, Fredrickson 16-23 238 yards, 2 TD.
RECEIVING: MRNE, Clinton Perkins 3-127 1 TD, Zentner 1-15, Crist 1-15. RPL, Kyle VanBerkom 6-80, Enget 2-26,
