Photos and article by Barb Strozewski
Friday night was full of excitement and anticipation  as the first game of the season got underway.  Crawford had the first possession and were held at to no score.  The moguls scored on their first possession with a touchdown by Lathen Stevens assisted by great blocking by Edgemont’s offense. The second possession by Crawford the Mogul defense kept them to no score. Mogul’s second possession they scored again with the speed of Lathen Stevens dashing untouched to cross the goal line. Edgemont’s offense was on task with their blocking.
Crawford’s quarterback tossed a pass which was intercepted by Jared Refior for the return. There was a 15 yard penalty called against the Moguls as both players went for the ball and contact was made before the ball was touched.  They scored and the conversion point was not made. The Rams took over the ball on Edgemont’s 49 yard line and attempted an off-side kick which was directly kicked to, and recovered by, Rhett Beard.
Mogul Quarterback Jared Refior then lateraled the ball to Lathen Stevens (12) who passed it to Miles Englebert (88) for the touchdown. Moguls held the Rams to no gain at 3rd and 5  with the play being broken up by Dustin Curl.
Moguls ball was intercepted on our 45 yard line. Moguls held them to no score on that sequence of downs. Next Mogul possession Lathen Stevens took the football in for a touchdown and Dustin Curl made the conversion point.
Rams possession, 1st and 10, they fumbled and Rhett Beard recovered that fumble.  Rams held the Moguls to no score and the first half ended Moguls 26 to Rams 12.
The second half of the game saw no further scoring by the Moguls, just tough defense. The Rams began to score and brought the numbers to Edgemont 26-Rams 20 and were within one touchdown of tieing up this game. During their attempts to score and Edgemont’s desire to keep that from happening, there were three Edgemont players who were sidelined and at least temporarily compromised: Matt Swanson (left the game for the duration) Dustin Curl (leg was cramping) and Chris Simons (wind knocked out)
Last few minutes of the game Rhett Beard (11) squelched  a clean shot by the Rams to the goal line. The Moguls held the line, blocked with all their might, never quit on a play and were immovable on the Rams’ downs.  The final score was Edgemont 26-Crawford 20.  The Ram’s player who was involved in sending Matt Swanson to the sidelines, came out on the field while Matt was still laying there to apologize and check on his injury.
Next game is Sept 6th when the Mogul take on Newell on the Irrigators field at 6 p.m.