MAYVILLE, N.D. — It wasn’t the high-scoring shootout often seen in all-star football games, but Saturday’s 11-man Shrine Bowl contest was no less entertaining.
Keaton Docken’s 22-yard field goal as time expired in the first half put the East All-Stars up three, and Hunter Bindas’ interception with 1:38 remaining in the game sealed a 10-7 win to give the East a seventh-straight Shrine Bowl victory against the West at Jerome Berg Field.
Facing a 2nd-and-7 in its own territory, West quarterback Bryson Heck of Valley City was pressured by Harvey-Wells County’s Tyler Swang, hitting Heck in the arm as he threw. The jackpot ball landed in the hands of the waiting Bindas, and the former Kindred Vikings star returned it to the West 35-yard line.
“They ran a double move to the single-receiver side and I was playing underneath,” Bindas said. “(Swang), our defensive end, got the tip and I saw it in the air. So I just went under, got it and helped seal the game.”
With timeouts remaining for the West, the East ran three more plays before H-WC’s Kayl Sieg iced it with a 3-yard run on third-and-2 to send his team to victory formation.
Docken’s leg the difference
The Northern State football team will be excited to have Docken on its roster this fall, and the former Fargo South kicker showed why on Saturday.
His 22-yard boot was near-perfect after the East offense put him well within his range to take the lead at the half.
“The offense drove us down and they got us into field goal range,” Docken said. “Good snap, good hold, good kick. It’s been a great week here.”
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East snags three INTs
Defense wins championships, and it also wins all-star games. Along with Bindas’ game-sealer, the East picked up three interceptions throughout the game.
With 1:22 remaining in the first quarter, Beck was picked off by Langdon Area-Munich’s Cody Amble. Amble returned the ball to the West 45-yard line to set up the East in opposing territory.
The East capitalized on the turnover, scoring three plays later on Fargo Davies' Malachi Werremeyer’s 2-yard rush on first-and-goal.
The second pick of the game came with Bismarck Legacy’s Easton Bergrud at quarterback for the West. With 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter, West Fargo Horace’s Axel Anderson intercepted Bergrud and returned to the West 49-yard line to ultimately set up Docken’s go-ahead field goal.
West responds
Following Werremeyer’s first-quarter score, the West responded in the second quarter with an 11-yard TD connection on 2nd-and-9. It was Heck connecting with Velva-Drake-Anamoose-Garrison receiver Reggie Bruner before Heck added the extra point to make the score 7-7.
Coaches perspective
Despite being an all-star game, East and Davies head coach Wayne Werremeyer didn’t shy away from the offense he utilizes in the fall, running the old-school T-formation his Eagles teams have become accustomed to.
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“It’s a special group of kids and we’re a little unconventional sometimes in things we do,” Werremeyer said. “Kids came out here all week, they learned different football than they're used to, they busted their butts and I’m so proud to be part of this team.”
It wasn’t the ‘T’ that put Docken in range for the end-of-half field goal however. The East spread it out with H-WC quarterback Tallen Thorson to set the play up.
Thorson connected on back-to-back passes with West Fargo Sheyenne’s Cooper Bryant and Amble to bring the ball to the 5-yard line.
“It all came from a turnover and then (Thorson) made a play on a pass play which I know we don’t normally do,” Werremeyer said. “But we had an opportunity to spread it out a little bit and it’s athletes making plays. They’re good athletes.”
One last father-son moment
Wayne Werremeyer has had the privilege of coaching his son Malachi throughout his career at Davies. Saturday offered one final chance for the father-son duo to coach and play on the same gridiron.
Malachi will head to the University of Jamestown next season to continue his academic and football career.
“It was just fun,” Malachi Werremeyer said of playing for his dad one more time. “I’m tired right now, but it’s been fun. I’m excited (for the future). This is kind of like a preview for it, so I think it’s going to be a fun time.”
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“Special, it’s special to me,” Wayne Werremeyer added. “He deserves everything that he’s earned.”
Bigger than a game
This game marked the 51st installment of the North Dakota Shrine Bowl, which has been held annually since 1974.
The weeklong event is put on by the El Zagal Shriners out of Fargo and Kem Shriners out of Grand Forks. The event was created “with the goal of honoring high school football athletes who excel both on and off the field and display high character, to raise awareness and funds for the Shriners Children’s nonprofit, and to inform the public about the organization,” according to its website.
The week brings nearly 130 senior football players from across North Dakota and western Minnesota together for practices, team meals, bonding activities and the chance to hear from and interact with Shriners Children’s patients.
A parade and banquet are also held annually on Saturday morning prior to kickoff in the 11-man and 9-man contests.
“The Shrine Committee does a fantastic job as well as Mayville State putting this thing on,” West and V-D-A-G head coach Matt Weidler said. “Raising awareness for those patients out there that need our help and support and for us to come out and play football and to help raise money, it’s been a great week and I love everything about the Shriners.”
A particularly special guest was in attendance for Saturday’s games, Shriners International Patient Ambassador Paige LaCombe.
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A college student from Lafayette, Louisiana, LaCombe is one of just two International Patient Ambassadors that Shriners Children’s selects annually to represent the organization at events across the country.
She’s attended PGA Tour events in support of the nonprofit and has had the privilege of participating in the Rose Bowl parade.
This week was her first time visiting the state of North Dakota.
“I’ve never been so far up north in my life,” LaCombe said. “So I wasn’t really sure. I’m from the South, and everyone’s nice and the hospitality is amazing. Now I’m up here and I’m like, ‘Okay, you all are the same. You all are so nice.’ ”
LaCombe was taken to Shriners Children’s Texas hospital when she was 8-years-old after suffering an allergic reaction to a newly-prescribed seizure medication.
Perplexed at first, doctors diagnosed LaCombe, now 19, with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which “is a rare, serious disorder of the skin and mucous membranes,” according to Mayo Clinic. The condition is often described as “burning from the inside out.”
LaCombe was rushed to the hospital with a 104-degree fever and skin blistering off of her body. Now, she credits Shriners Children’s with saving her life.
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“When I first went there, we had no idea what Shriners was,” LaCombe said. “I was taken in an ambulance there because my parents raised (heck) to have me moved to that hospital because they found out about it. Soon after, my dad was like, ‘OK, what is this about? There’s men walking around in crazy hats which were the fezzes.’
“They were taking care of my parents, bringing them back and forth from the hotel room and they were called roadrunners. Then, they would bring me to my appointments whenever I was out of the hospital. It just means a lot because they not only make our lives easier, but they’re also raising money for the hospital. It’s a fraternity that has fun but also is for an amazing cause.”
LaCombe was recognized at halftime of Saturday’s 11-man game.
LaCombe said she was free of SJS in about three months. Now, some 11 years later, she was selected to travel the country and attend various events like the Shrine Bowl. For her, it’s a way of giving back to the organization that’s meant so much to her.
“Not only does it give back to the hospital, obviously because they saved my life free-of-charge,” LaCombe said. “And then me being able to come out here and share my story and to express to people why your donations matter so much, but to also get my story out.
“A lot of people that I’ve spoken to, even doctors, are like, ‘I need to look into that because it’s kind of scary.’ It makes me feel better that if at least one person in the crowd learns something new, I feel accomplished and if at least one person in the crowd donates, I feel accomplished. It just makes me feel so good.”
For more information on Shriners Children’s and International Shriners, visit shrinerschildrens.org and shrinersinternational.org.
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