Langdon, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)—-The third ranked Langdon Area-Edmore-Munich (LAEM) Cardinals defeated the Carrington Cardinals in the regular season finale 45-20. LAEM will be advancing to the state playoffs next weekend will an 8-1 overall record & Carrington finishes with a 4-5 season record.

Carrington kept things interesting for the first 3 quarters trailing by 13 points going into the fourth quarter at 27-14. Carrington also had the ball with a chance to cut the Langdon lead down to one score but couldn’t make that happen before LAEM found the endzone 2 times in a :21 second time frame that sealed the win with a 39-14 lead with 9:47 to go in the game. The teams would trade touchdowns in the next 5 minutes as LAEM prevailed 45-20.

Michael Clifton (senior running back) for Carrington, paced the offense with 135 yards rushing on 24 carries including a 26 yard touchdown run with 5:04 to play in the first quarter that tied the game at 7-7. Clifton’s score came after LAEM scored at the 7:39 mark of the opening quarter when Rayce Worley (sophomore quarterback) connected with Tucker Welsh on a 7 yard pass to open the scoring. Alex Gellner (LAEM) & Jack Paulson (Carrington) made the extra point kicks for the early 7-7 tie. Clifton’s 26 yard run was setup by a bad snap to the LAEM punter that was downed at the Langdon 26 yard line. Clifton also added 1 catch for 22 yards in the contest. Carrington quarterback Grady Shipman (sophomore) connected on 8 of 15 passes in the game for 82 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown pass came at the 2:56 mark of the third quarter to Hudson Schmitz from 6 yards out & cut the deficit to 27-14 after Jack Paulson converted on the extra point kick. Shipman also added a 1 yard run late in the game for the final score of the night for Carrington. Shipman’s 1 yard score was setup after Tate Larson’s 34 yard reception and great run after catch got the ball down to the 1 yard line. Jacob Seaburg added  added 3 receptions for 23 yards and also ran the ball for 13 yards on 6 carries.

LAEM quarterback Rayce Worley accounted for 5 total touchdowns, throwing for 3 touchdowns and running for 2 more. Worley scored on a 1 yard quarterback sneak with 11:17 to go in the second quarter to give LAEM a 14-7 lead. Worley connected with Tucker Welsh on a 11 yard pass with 1:10 to go in the first half to give LAEM a 21-7 halftime lead. Welsh finished the game with 4 catches for 53 yards and 2 touchdowns. Worley connected with Markus Kingzett with 9:33 to go in the third quarter on a 36 yard touchdown pass pushing the LAEM lead to 27-7. Kingzett would also scored the final points of the night on a 58 yard run with 5:43 to go in the contest sealing the 45-20 victory. Kingzett finished the game with 59 rushing yards on 3 carries. Worley would add another touchdown run from 11 yards at the 9:47 mark of the game giving LAEM a 39-14. Worley finished the game with with 42 rushing yards on 7 carries and completed 13 of 19 passes for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns. LAEM running back Carter Tetrault (junior) finished the night with 9 carries for 57 yards and one touchdown (8 yard score). Jack Romfo (junior running back) also added 57 rushing yards on 10 carries. LAEM, the three time defending state champions, had a 44 game win streak snapped a few weeks ago by Hillsboro-CV  will host Oakes in the first round of the 2021 playoffs next Saturday.