Beau Pauly and Casey Vesledahl of Becker helped the North hold the South to 13 points in the first, then just six points in the second half while the North offense exploded for 38 points in Saturday’s North vs. South All-Star football game Husky Stadium. The North held a slight, 14-13 going into the second half after giving up six in the first quarter and seven in the second. The North blew the game wide open in the third when they scored on its first three possessions of the second half.

 

Pauly, an even-keeled gentleman off the field and a ferocious linebacker on it, is headed to North Dakota State to play football this fall. 

 

Vesledahl is a laid-back, quiet young man sans the pads but a formidable, loud presence of an offensive lineman when he dons his uniform. He will be off to Vermilion Community College to play baseball later this year.

 

Pauly and Vesledahl are spending their summer playing baseball for their American Legion baseball team, the one last chance to play together as teammates for a high school team.

 

Saturday was the last time both of them would be viewing each other through facemasks while playing for the same team.

 

“This was huge preparation for me,” Pauly said, in reference to his playing football at North Dakota State in the fall. “I wanted to play in this game because the speed and the talent in this game is very similar to collegiate football.

 

Despite not playing organized football since his Becker team knocked off South St. Paul in November, Pauly was his old ferocious self and he earned  the North’s Defensive Player of the Game.

 

Upsala/Swanville linebacker Kyle Lange was named the South’s Defensive Player of the Game. 

 

“When I was talking with (assistant) coach (Jason) Telecky, he told me, ‘I’d be surprised if one of one of our inside linebackers didn’t get it because of how our defense works,” Pauly said of the honor. “We couldn’t have done that without the work of our ‘D’ line and ‘D’-backs. I don’t believe I deserve the award more than they do.”

 

Vesledahl played his usual, steady and consistent way Saturday and was one of Becker’s most crucial pieces of the puzzle in their last two state championship runs. Vesledahl was the main cog on the line that blocked for a team that rushed for 3,041 yards last season. 

 

Pauly led the Bulldogs in tackles this past season  — this after coming off a devastating knee injury in the prep bowl just one year prior. He re-habbed the knee aggressively so he could finish his high school career on a high note and he was instrumental in Becker’s undefeated run through the regular season and playoffs while winning their second Class AAAA state title in a row.

 

Vesledahl also had leg injuries, but he strapped leg braces on his massive legs and played with no hesitation throughout the last year-and-a-half of his football, wrestling and baseball career at Becker.

 

Pauly and Vesledahl most likely would have had another teammate at last Saturday’s All-Star game had Dillon Radunz not already made a commitment to a mission trip. 

 

Radunz, a 6-foot-6 defensive end/tackle who was named Times All-Area player of the year, left for Belize June 18 to help under-privileged children and teach about them about his faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Radunz is also headed to North Dakota State to play football.