Pender wins regular season finale at Wakefield

The Pender Pendragons struggled against Wakefield on Friday, but won 40-26 to cap off a 6-2 regular season.

The Trojans led 20-12 at halftime before Pender won the third quarter 14-6 to make it a 26-26 game at the end of three.

The Pendragons outscored Wakefield 14-0 in the fourth quarter.

Shay Messerlie finished with 128 yards on 23 carries, including a touchdown. Tyler Nelson carried the ball 6 times for 93 yards while James Bensen toted the rock 12 times for 88 yards, and scored twice.

Dylan Roth was 9-10 passing for 116 yards and a touchdown. Messerlie hauled in two passes for 63 yards, and was on the receiving end of Roth's touchdown pass.

Kolton Lehmkuhl and Devin Soll had 15 and 12 tackles, respectively, for Pender. Roth added 9 while Bensen and Leland Bowder recorded 8 each.

The Pendragons totaled 422 yards of offense, 306 coming on the ground.

It wasn't the prettiest game for Pender, but the Pendragons won, and that's all that matters.

Pender (6-2) travels to Neligh Thursday to take on Neligh-Oakdale (6-2) in the first round of the playoffs.

The Warriors lost their regular season finale to Clearwater/Orchard, falling 38-37.

I think the Pendragons have a good shot at winning on Thursday.

Neligh-Oakdale didn't beat a team that finished with a record above .500 in the regular season, and this is no doubt one of the Warriors' toughest tests of the season.

Pender's losses are better than Neligh Oakdale's.

With that said, the Pendragons lack playoff experience and the game is on the road.

That makes things more difficult for Pender, in my opinion.

I think the Pendragons are more than capable of making up for their disadvantages with good, physical play, but Pender has to be ready to bring it for four quarters.

Roth, Bensen, Messerlie, Soll, and others have to step up and play excellent football for Pender.

This game is out there for the Pendragons to go get, and a win would likely mean a second round home game against BDS. I'm sure that's a matchup Pender would welcome.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. in Neligh. The game can be heard on 107.9 the Bull with pregame at 6:40.