Bishop Ryan travels to Central Cass for quarterfinal showdown

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – No. 5 Bishop Ryan hits the road Saturday for its quarterfinal showdown with No. 4 Central Cass.

On paper, the Lions and Squirrels are evenly matched. Both teams have only one loss: Bishop Ryan lost to No. 2 Velva-D-A-G and Central Cass fell to No. 1 Kindred.

Lions interim head coach Ben Bolinske outlines the scouting report of the Squirrels’ high-octane offense.

“They like to move the ball fast, they’re an up-tempo team. They run a play every like 20 seconds. Defensively this week we’ve just been working on conditioning and getting realigned,” said Bolinske.

Bolinske adds that the Lions’ offense can help their defense by controlling time of possession through the run game and converting on third downs.

On the other side of the ball, the Bishop Ryan defense is in good form after a 29-17 win in the first round over Dickinson Trinity.

“There were some points in the game where they had us on the ropes, on the goal line, especially on the three-yard line, first-and-goal. We held a stand and just being together the whole time is something that is going to be really important, especially in these later parts of the playoffs,” said running back and linebacker Drew Zwak.

Central Cass defeated Bottineau 48-20 last week to advance to the quarterfinals. Kickoff between the Lions and Squirrels is Saturday at 3 p.m. in Casselton.

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