5 hours Ago By Abby Sharpe
GRAND FORKS — Owen Chervestad grew up around basketball, playing with friends and cousins as a kid, and considers that his favorite sport. But Red Lake County’s senior quarterback isn’t too bad at football, either. ADVERTISEMENT Chervestad has thrown for nearly 1,000 yards this season and led the No.
2-seeded Rebels to a 9-1 record heading into the Minnesota Section 8A championship game against No. 1 Mahnomen-Waubun, set for 7 p.m.
Thursday at the Fargodome. The Rebels’ lone loss was 13-12 to Mahnomen-Waubun a month ago. “We just have to go out there and not be scared,” Chervestad said.
“We know we can play with them. We know we have the ability to come out and play with them and beat them. We just have to come out there and play well.
We know that they're going to bring it, so just prepare and treat it like any other game — not get too high, not get too low, and just stay the course.” Red Lake County coach Brian Remick expects a similar tough game on Thursday. “It should be a good game,” he said.
“I know both teams are obviously trying to get to the state tournament. I’m expecting a hard-fought ball game between two teams.” Chervestad is 64-for-106 for 974 yards and 17 touchdown passes on the year, and he’s rushed 50 times for 323 yards and eight touchdowns.
He’s averaging 108 passing yards per game, with top receivers Ethan Johnson, Ethan Majeres and Connor Duden. ADVERTISEMENT Johnson has 15 catches for 357 yards and seven touchdowns on the year, while Majeres has 26 grabs for 211 yards and seven scores. Duden has 12 catches for 267 yards and three touchdowns this season.
The running backs have also been key in Red Lake County’s offense, with Brock Seeger leading the Rebels with 107 carries for 1,114 yards and 12 touchdowns. Gunnar Halverson has 33 carries for 341 yards and seven touchdowns. “Very versatile offense,” Chervestad said.
“We can do damage in the run game, in the pass game. I just have to get the ball to all the playmakers. Sometimes there might be too many playmakers to get it to.
It’s definitely fun playing with all those guys, and it works out well.” Defensively, Thoren Thronson leads the Rebels with 45 total tackles. Seeger has 41 tackles and four forced fumbles, while Ben Gullingsrud has 35 tackles this season.
Chervestad has 17 total tackles and leads Red Lake County with five interceptions. Red Lake County’s balance on both sides of the ball has helped the Rebels dominate teams this season. Five of the Rebels’ nine wins came by over 40 points.
ADVERTISEMENT “We just have a lot of things we can do,” Chervestad said. “Other teams, I would think it's probably pretty hard to plan for us. We just got a lot of really good players, great up front, and we have a lot of weapons.
” Chervestad’s goal was to make the most out of his senior year, and his numbers show he has. “I just try to enjoy it,” he said. “There can be a lot of pressure.
A lot of people talk and stuff, but I just try to enjoy it and have the best time I can. Just have one fun last year with my friends playing the game I love.”.
