It was a blitz of big plays that propelled state-ranked No. 6 Spring Grove well past visiting No. 9 Mabel-Canton, 56-14, on Friday night, Sept. 16. The Lions scored four times on scrimmage plays that covered 46 yards or more plus a 60-yard Elijah Solum non-scoring pass to Tysen Grinde. And then there was Grinde’s74-yard kickoff return touchdown. Spring Grove improved to 3-0 (3-0 sub-district) while Mabel-Canton left at 2-1 (2-1 sub-district).
It was 28-0 before Mabel-Canton took advantage of a high Spring Grove punt snap back to the Lion 15 yard-line. Five plays later, a one-yard run by Tyler Larson made it 28-6. All 14 Cougar points came during the second quarter. Their longest drive of 60 yards ended with Robert Michels’ 12-yard run that made it 34-14 just before halftime.
Solum, the nine-team sub-district’s leader in total offense (yardage combined from passing and rushing), did it again with both arm and feet Friday night while contributing directly to five of the Lions’ eight touchdowns. He ran only six times but gained 135 yards for two touchdowns on sprints of 20 and 85 yards. He completed 6 of 15 passes with no interceptions for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Caleb Griffin, while lining up as a wide receiver, took a lateral then threw a 48-yard TD pass to Jaxon Strinmoen (SG 14, MC 0).
Strinmoen caught three passes (118 yards) and scored with two of them – a 62-yarder from Solum and that 48-yarder from Griffin. It was Griffin again, throwing a key block on that 62-yard Strinmoen TD and again on a 46-yard TD reception by Ethan Crouch. Griffin also kicked 6 of 7 extra points.
Five of Solum’s six completions went for big yardage, including a 25-yard toss to Griffin and a 34-yard TD pass to Logan Brumm. With reserves on the field for both teams, the Lions closed scoring with a 1-yard run by Zach Brumm and a 2-point conversion keeper by quarterback Bryce Berns.
Spring Grove scored on each of its first four possessions, all on quick strikes. The 62-yard Solum-to-Strinmoen TD pass came on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage. After four Lion plays from scrimmage, it was 14-0. After four more SG plays, it was 21-0. After three more Lion plays, it was 28-0 (first 11 plays, four touchdowns). Grove had only 42 offensive snaps, greatly due to averaging 11.5 yards per play, while M-C had 66 offensive snaps (3.9-yard average).
It was a frustrating evening for the Cougars, who began the game with a promising 10-play drive that ran out of downs at the Lion 38. SG scored on the next play. Mabel-Canton had only three plays that went for more than 20 yards. And uncharacteristically for the Cougars, all three were passes for 34, 27 and 27 yards. Freshman quarterback Isaac Underbakke had some success when he had time. He completed 8 of 16 passes with no interceptions for 127 yards, but he was also sacked five times for 38 yards of losses. M-C finished with 132 yards rushing and 127 passing.
Solum and Jacob Olerud each had 11 tackles and Grinde 10. Noah Blackburn was in on 9 stops. Other than the errant SG punt snap, there were no other fumbles and no turnovers all night. Each team drew three penalty flags.
Spring Grove has won the last 18 games against Mabel-Canton, but the Cougars still lead the all-time series, 36-27.
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SG 56, M-C 14
SG 21. 13 14 8 = 56
MC 0 14 0 0 = 14
Team totals
YARDAGE (rush + pass): SG 485 (202+283); MC 259 (132+127)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.): SG 26-202 (7.8) 3 TD; MC 49-132 (2.7) 2 TD
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD): SG 7-16-0, 283 yds, 4 TD; MC 8-17-0, 127 yds.
Sacks allowed: SG 0, MC 5
TD: SG: 3 rush, 4 pass, 1 spec. teams; MC: 2 rush
PAT: SG 7-8 (kick 6-7, run 1-1); MC 1-2 (run 1-1, pass 0-1)
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 42, MC 66
AVG. yards per play: SG 11.5, MC 3.9
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 1-0, MC 0-0
TURNOVERS: SG 0, MC 0
PENALTIES: SG 3-31, MC 3-25
3rd downs: SG 2 for 5, MC 7 for 16
4th downs: SG 1 for 2, MC 1 for 6
Red zone: SG 2 for 3, MC 2 for 3
First downs: SG 16, MC 13
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 7, MC 3
LION INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING 26-202: Eli Solum 6-135, 2 TD; Hunter Holland 12-59; Zach Brumm 5-29, TD; Bryce Berns 1-12; Brandon Jahnke 1-1; Team 1-(-34)
PASSING: 7-16-0, 283, 4 TD: Eli Solum 6-15-0, 235, 4 TD; Caleb Griffin 1-1-0, 48, TD
RECEIVING 7-283, 4 TD: Jaxon Strinmoen 3-118, 2 TD; Tysen Grinde 1-60; Ethan Crouch 1-46, TD; Logan Brumm 1-34, TD; Caleb Griffin 1-25
SCORING 56: Jaxon Strinmoen 12, Elijah Solum 12, Caleb Griffin 6, Ethan Crouch 6, Tysen Grinde 6, Logan Brumm 6, Zach Brumm 6, Bryce Berns 2
XP KICKING: Caleb Griffin 6 for 7
KICKOFF RETURNS: Tysen Grinde 2-102, TD; Zach Brumm 1-12
PUNT RETURNS: Tysen Grinde 2-20
PUNTING: none
INTERCEPTIONS: none
PASS BREAKUPS 2: Caleb Griffin 1, Jaxon Strinmoen 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: none
FUMBLES FORCED: none
SACKS 5: Jaxon Strinmoen 1.5, Jacob Olerud 1.0, Josh Newgaard 1.0,l Logan Brumm 1.0, Caleb Griffin 0.5
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks) 9:Jaxon Strinmoen 1.5, Logan Brumm 1.5, Jacob Olerud 1.5, Noah Blackburn 1.5, Josh Newgaard 1.0, Ethan Crouch 1.0, Caleb Griffin 0.5, Brandon Jahnke 0.5
TACKLES (solo + assists): Elijah Solum 11 (7+4), Jacob Olerud 11 (4+7), Tysen Grinde 10 (6+4), Noah Blackburn 9 (3+6), Logan Brumm 7 (4+3), Jaxon Strinmoen 7 (3+4), Ethan Crouch 7 (1+6), Caleb Griffin 6 (2+4)
Emmet Engeldinger 6 (1+5), Zach Brumm 3 (1+2), Sylas Flatin 2 (1+1), Brandon Jahnke 2 (1+1), Dash Ranzenberger 2 (1+1), Troy Reinhardt 2 (1+1), Hunter Holland 2 (1+1), Nathan Crouch 2 (1+1), Bryce Berns 2 (0+2), Josh Newgaard 1 (1+0), Noah Heppner 1 (0+1)
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Cougar INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING 49-132, 2 TD: Tyler Larson 17-60, TD PAT; Robert Michels 8-54, TD; Cayden Tollefsrud 14-31; Colton Tollefsrud 3-15; Isaac Underbakke 7-(-38)
PASSING 8-17-0, 127: Isaac Underbakke 8-16-0, 127; Cayden Tollefsrud 0-1-0
RECEIVING 8-127: Cayden Tollefsrud 2-46, Jordan Larson 2-45, Tyler Larson 4-36
XP KICKING: none
KICKOFF RETURNS: Cayden Tollefsrud 4-70, Tyler Larson 2-43, Jordan Larson 2-23, Kale Tollefsrud 1-15
PUNT RETURNS: none
SCORING 14: Tyler Larson 8, Robert Michels 6
PUNTING: Robert Michels 3-80 (26.7)
INTERCEPTIONS: none
PASS BREAKUPS: Jordan Larson 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: none
FUMBLES FORCED: none
SACKS: none
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East Sub-District
Lanesboro 3-0 sub-district (3-0 season)
Spring Grove 3-0 sub-district (3-0 season)
Kingsland 2-0 sub-district (2-1 season)
Mabel-Canton 2-1 sub-district (2-1 season)
Grand Meadow 1-1 sub-district (2-1 season)
LeRoy-Ostrander 1-2 sub-district (1-2 season)
Lyle/Pacelli 0-2 sub-district (1-2 season)
Houston 0-3 sub-district (0-3 season)
Southland 0-3 sub-district (0-3 season)
Latest Games:
Spring Grove 65, Mabel-Canton 14
Lanesboro 58, LeRoy-Ostrander 26
Kingsland 48, Southland 7
Grand Meadow 34, Houston 14
Lyle/Pacelli 14, Cedar Mountain 6
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Spring Grove football 2021
3 wins, 0 losses (3-0 sub-district
7:00 p.m. kickoff unless noted (series records go back to 1949)
W vs. Houston 60-30
W at Lyle/Pacelli 48-20
W vs. Mabel-Canton 56-14
Sat. Sept. 24…at Grand Meadow 1 p.m. —-last year, GM 20, SG 17 (GM has won the last four, lead series 35-10)
Fri. Sept. 30….at Southland (Adams)——last year, Sou 46, SG 16 & Sou 19, SG 12 (Rebels lead series 12-3)
Sat. Oct.08…..LeRoy-Ostrander 5 p.m.—last year, L-O 46, SG 6 (L-O has won the last three, leads series 15-13)
Fri. Oct. 14……at Kingsland (Spring Valley)—last year, SG 21, KHS 20 (Lions lead series 3-0)
Wed. Oct. 19…Lanesboro———-last year, LHS 72, SG 27 (Burros have won last two; SG leads series 27-23-3)
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B-team Football
1 win, 1 loss
W at Mabel-Canton 54-0
L vs. Kingsland 6-14
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Junior High Football
0 wins, 2 losses
L at LeRoy-Ostrander 6-26
L vs. Kingsland 14-40