The Machine Freeze in Fargo

[Fargo Freeze]

The Freeze finished last season with a huge defensive win against a playoff bound Wichita team looking to lock up home field throughout. They start the 2006 season with another strong defensive effort against the perennial division powerhouse Machine and come away with a win. Typically strong at home, the Freeze tend to show their strength late in the season, so it was a bit of a surprise that they played so strongly in this week's game. On paper, without seeing the final score, you'd think the Freeze had been soundly beaten; 24 first downs to 13, 347 yards to 245, Time of Possession 37 mins to 23 mins, 31 completed passes to 13. Black Hills' top HB Cooper averaged 3.1 y/c, Childs only 2.5 y/c. But of course, its the final score that matters. The Freeze scored first, led the Machine throughout the game, and held a 2 TD lead going into the last minutes of the 4th quarter in spite of giving up a pair of fumbles in the second half. Fargo's defensive unit also garnered 7 sacks of QB Proctor and gave up only 65 total yards on the ground.

All of Fargo's scoring came on or after big plays, starting with Ray Puryear's 90 yard punt return for a TD. Puryear, fast becoming a fan favorite in Fargo after becoming the teams single season record holder in receiving yards (1,220) last season, also caught a pair of TD passes from QB Warner. "Not bad for a kid we picked up off the free agent list 3 season's ago." said receiver coach Tim Rice, "Great speed, great hands, a real diamond in the rough." But those 2 TD passes were not big plays from Warner, in fact, it wasn't even his arm that made the biggest play, it was his feet. Twice Warner had runs of 30 yards or more and each evenutally lead to his scoring strikes (4 and 5 yard passes to Puryear).

The Freeze coaching staff know that getting a win against a division rival is always a good win, but its too early get overly excited about a win at home. They know they have to win games on the road against premiere teams in the league to make any kind of playoff bid this season. Week one was only a start, albeit a good one.