North Dickinson quarterback Brady Jungwirth (15) throws a pass during Thursday’s contest against Rudyard at James D. Priestap Memorial Field. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

FELCH TOWNSHIP — Some things are bigger than sports. And Thursday at James D. Priestap Memorial Field, that was immediately made evident as the North Dickinson varsity 8-player football team faced off with Rudyard.

On the first play from scrimmage, Nordics’ junior quarterback Brady Jungwirth tucked the ball and ran to the left side. After stepping out of bounds, a Rudyard player tackled Jungwirth causing both players to collide with assistant coach Jamie Mattson’s six-year-old daughter.

“It turned into an emotional game very quickly when Lainey (Mattson) got hit,” Nordics head coach Mike Christian said. “She took one and she got our boys fired up and they played hard for her.”

Although the energy had turned in the stadium, coach Christian kept his players focused on the mission at hand.

“It was just, ‘We’ve got to play Nordic football,'” Christian added. “We’ve got to get after them and do our job. We don’t worry about what’s going on on the other side.”

North Dickinson junior Spencer Kramer (23) runs with the ball during the Nordics’ 50-20 win over Rudyard on Thursday. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

North Dickinson used that moment to open the floodgates on the Bulldogs, as it picked up the 50-20 win.

“This was for coach Mattson’s daughter,” Nordics’ senior David Parker said. “The moment we saw her go down, it was a different feeling. We were worried and then at halftime, we got news that it was a concussion. … It set the tone for the entire game.”

The win also pushed North Dickinson closer to its goal.

“It’s huge, especially because our goal as a team this year is to make the playoffs,” Christian said. “We stumbled last week, had some injuries, and we knew if we even wanted to have a chance at it we had to beat (Rudyard).”

The Nordics scored their second drive of the game when Jungwirth punched in a 15-yard rushing touchdown, giving them a 6-0 lead.

However, Rudyard wasn’t going away easily and the Bulldogs scored a 53-yard rushing touchdown on their next drive to pull ahead 7-6.

Jason Graham gave North Dickinson the lead back when he punched in a 10-yard TD. It led 12-7.

Rudyard made things interesting before the second quarter, scoring on a 48-yard pass and pulling ahead 13-12.

North Dickinson sophomore Trenton Kramer and junior Spencer Kramer each scored a receiving TD in the second quarter and the Nordics took a 26-13 advantage into halftime.

The Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a long drive. However, as they looked on the verge of scoring, Parker stepped up on three-consecutive plays to shut down Rudyard’s momentum.

“That was just so huge,” Christian said. “He’s a first-year senior. He’s never played before. He came out, worked his tail off all summer in the weight room, and he got his shot tonight. And I think he just won himself a spot.”

For Parker, he was just listening to what his coaches told him.

“I went, I saw where the ball was going and I ran as fast as I could,” Parker said. “My mind, I can’t lie, it went a little bit blank. But it wasn’t because I wasn’t thinking. It was because I only had one goal in mind. All my coaches told me, ‘just go for the ball.’

“So that was all that was in my mind.”

North Dickinson’s offense unloaded on the Bulldogs in the second half and rolled to the 50-20 win.

“Pretty good, happy with how we played,” Jungwirth said. “We played better defense than last game and stayed healthy. That really helped.”

Jungwirth ended the day with 281 passing yards and five passing touchdowns on a 14 for 26 day through the air.

“Staying healthy was big,” Jungwirth added. “My receivers were catching the ball nicely and running good routes. It’s easy to make good throws when I have two Kramers on the outside.”

The Nordics also received contributions from Graham (77 rushing yards, 48 receiving yards, 1 TD), Spencer Kramer (46 rushing yards, 35 receiving yards, 2 TDs), Trenton Kramer (6 catches, 124 receiving yards, 1 TD) and Ty King (4 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD).

Spencer Kramer led the North Dickinson defense with 14 tackles.

The Nordics are back in action on Friday as they head to Lake Linden-Hubbell at 6 p.m.