LISBON, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Oakes got a very impressive and much-needed road win at Lisbon by a final score of 14-8.

Oakes had most of their offense come from the passing game in the first half with junior quarterback Xavier Vossler getting 147 passing yards including two 40+ yard hookups to junior wide receivers Joey Heim and Noah Sundby. Those eventually led to a 16-yard touchdown run by senior running back David Schmitz and a five-yard touchdown pass to Heim to put Oakes up 14-0 at the half.

Right out of the break, the Broncos marched right down the field and scored after a 40-yard run from Lisbon quarterback Boeden Greenley. He went and punched it in himself from one yard out which made it 14-8 after the two point conversion. Oakes’ offense stagnated for the majority of the third quarter with -5 yards on their first two drives. It felt like the game’s momentum had fully shifted to the Lisbon side. However, Oakes’ defense continued their season-long trend of bending but not breaking. They got multiple fourth down stops in the red zone in the second half including one with less than four minutes left in the game.

The Tornadoes got the ball back and hoped to milk as much time as possible starting with the ball from their own 15-yard line. Schmitz ran the ball well and the offensive line was able to create some gaps for him to make some good-sized chunk plays which kept the clock rolling. With the ball on the Lisbon 31-yard line and 0:42 left and faced with a 4th and 12, head coach Greg Dobitz trusted his junior quarterback Xavier Vossler who completed a 17-yard pass to Heim to put the game away.

Overall, this was an incredibly important win for the Tornadoes who are in prime position to earn a playoff spot with two games left to go. However, both of their opponents left are in the hunt for spots themselves. They host undefeated Kindred next week.