Spring Grove needed two 97-yard possessions and three plays covering more than 80 yards to finally overtake Mabel-Canton, 28-24, on snow-frosted Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field. Trailing the Cougars by two scores in the fourth quarter, the Lions rallied with two home run tosses from Isaac Griffin – first for 86 yards to Caden Grinde and then for 82 yards to Reid Bjerke. The senior signal-caller passed for 208 yards, rushed for 119 and had a hand in all 28 Spring Grove points, including TD runs of 10 yards and 86 yards plus kicking four extra points. Meanwhile, already two-time All-District Gavin Johnson scored 22 of the 24 Cougar points with three touchdowns (17-yards, 2-yards, and 1-yard) and a pair of extra-point runs while rushing for 205 yards, his third 200-yard-plus performance in six games. Cayden Tollefsrud added the other 2-point conversion run. Griffin’s 82-yard pass to Bjerke gave the Lions their first lead of the night with only 5:43 to play. But Griffin’s first carry had saved Spring Grove from falling behind by two scores early in the game. The Cougars had taken the opening kickoff and launched an 86-yard, 12-play touchdown march with Johnson scoring on a 17-yard run. Leading 8-0, M-C then fell on an onside kick-off and drove 37 yards before coming up one yard short while running out of downs at the Lion 3 yard-line. Almost falling behind by two touchdowns before running an offensive play, the Lions covered 97 yards in only three plays as Griffin broke up the middle for 86 yards. With the Cougars going for two-point conversions and Griffin booting one-pointers, Mabel-Canton would lead even when the touchdown count was even. It was 8-7 early, then 16-7 at halftime, 16-14 in the third period, and 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Spring Grove had to overcome adverse field position for both of their final two game-saving scores. After a penalty and a fumble, the Lions faced a third-down-and 15 at their own 14 yard-line when Griffin found Grinde deep for 86 yards. The Cougars still led 24-21. And Cayden Tollefsrud gave the Cougars good field position by running the kickoff back 35 yards to the Lion 42. The Grove defense held, but a 46-yard punt by Robert Michels pinned the Lions back on their 3-yard line. However, the boys in black would go 97 yards for their final TD (as they had for their first score). After two incomplete passes, Griffin scrambled 15 yards for a critical first down. Two plays later, Bjerke got behind the secondary for his only reception – the 82-yarder that finally put the Lions ahead, 28-24. The Cougars had two more possessions but ran out of downs near midfield and then suffered their only turnover of the game, an interception by Lion freshman Elijah Solum. The attacks were as expected. M-C efficiently pounded away with a punishing ground game with only one offensive penalty and no rushing turnovers while Johnson took 41 handoffs. The Cougars averaged four yards per carry, but only six plays covered double-digit yardage – the longest 21 yards. Four of the six M-C pass attempts came after falling behind in the fourth quarter. All 230 yards of offense came on the ground. The Cougars were looking to end a 16-game losing streak to SG that dates to 2009. The Lions have now won 17 straight in the series. SG (4-2) is 9-Man Section 1’s 4-seed and will host 5-seed Houston (2-4). M-C (2-4) is the 6-seed and will play at 3-seed L-O (2-2, 3-2).
Big Fourth-Period Plays Propel Lions Past Cougars, 28-24
