Football 9/9

L-O/L-P Downs Kingsland Behind Conversions and Late Score

In a battle between Section 1 9-Man’s top two regular season teams from a year ago, LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli senior quarterback Camden Hungerholt scored on a one-yard TD run with 2:34 left in the game to put the Cardinals ahead of Kingsland 35-26.  The score, for all intents and purposes, put a penalty-laden, but spirited battle between good teams away.  All game long, the defending section champ Knights kept up with L-O/L-P on scored touchdowns, but not conversions.   And those failed attempts had a key impact on the game.  Using a short field, the Knights scored first via a Kaaleem Reiland 30-yard TD run.  L-O/L-P answered on its next possession, as Hungerholt connected with one of his new weapons, Landon Meyer (an L/P kid), for a 35-yard pitch and catch.  Ryder Stern kicked the PAT and the Cards led 7-6 after a first quarter where the penalty count, 6-5, narrowly trailed the score.  The teams also exchanged touchdowns in the second quarter.  Hungerholt again hit Meyer (13-yard TD pass).  Kingsland’s Zach Reiland capped a Knight drive with a 1-one TD run.  Each series went about 50 yards.  Stern’s PAT from the Cards’ first score still stood as the margin of difference in the game, as the L-O/L-P led 13-12.  But despite the Knights scoring with 1:45 left in the half, L-O/L-P critically answered before halftime.  After using his arm more than his legs up until that point, with the Knights doing a good job defensively to stop him on the ground, the elusive Hungerholt ran for 76 yards on the last drive of the half, much of it runs from passing situations.  His 6-yard TD run with 0:14 seconds left in the half, plus conversion pass to Meyer, put L-O/L-P up by two scores, 21-12.  It concluded a first 24-minutes where Kingsland had 11 penalties for 85 yards, L-O/L-P 10 penalties for 84 1/2 yards!  In the third quarter, the teams went back-and-forth again.  The Knights started with a stop.  A big run by K-Reiland (21 yards), an L-O/L-P unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and another big run from Parker Johnson (26 yards), moved Kingsland down the field.  A Johnson 1-yard TD plow, plus Reiland to Caden Reiter conversion, got Matt Kolling’s group back within one at 21-20.    The Knights got another stop, but a Talan Lewison interception ended Kingsland’s drive while setting the Cardinals up just outside the red zone.   On 4th and 14, Hungerholt hit another new target, Tyson Stevens, on a 30-yard TD pass, a critical play.  A Hungerholt to Stern conversion pass than again made it a two-score game at 29-20.  In the waning moments of the quarter, a big special teams play put Kingsland in business.  Johnson blocked an L-O/L-P punt, with the Knights taking over at the 22.  It then only took back-to-back Caden Reiter runs, the last a 16-yarder, for team double-K to find the end zone.  But again, Kingsland’s conversion failed, leaving L-O/L-P ahead 29-26.  The Cardinals then controlled the ball in the fourth quarter, running 18 of the first 22 plays.  Hungerholt amassed 46 yards rushing on L-O/L-P’s second drive of the stanza, including the game-clinching 6-yard TD run with 2:34 left to lead 35-26.  Scoring only one less TD, the Knights were back two scores per a five-to-two conversion deficit.   In a statement game, Trevor Carrier’s group posted the big win.  Hungerholt, an MSU-Mankato signee, had a huge game (12 of 27, 157 yards, 3 TDs passing; 29-181, 2 TD rushing), accounting for all five Cardinal TD’s.  New targets Meyer (2-48, 2 TDs, conversion receiving), an L/P import, and Stevens (3-38, TD receiving), formerly of Southland, paid nice dividends.  K-Reiland (17-115, TD rushing) led the Knights.  Johnson (4-33 rushing), Reiter, and Z-Reiland also found the end zone.  Kingsland was one-dimensional, running for 178 yards, passing for only 28.  L-O/L-P ran for 154 and passed for 157.  Kingsland (13-1) handed L-O (8-2) its only regular season loss in week six last year, 54-21, in a battle of undefeateds.  

Football: Warriors Blank Lourdes for Season-Opening Win 

In a battle of last year’s 1AA champion and 1AAA runner-up, Caledonia used its defense to suppress Rochester-Lourdes at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium.   The Warrior “D” held the Eagles to 83 yards offense and just seven first downs.  Three came in the fourth quarter when the score was 28-0.  Offensively, Caledonia scored on its first possession, as senior QB Ethan Stendel hit an open Will Allen for a 34-yard TD pass.  But the rest of the half remained scoreless until the final minute.  With 0:36 left, following a 14-yard Eagle punt, Caledonia took over at the Lourdes 30.  On the series’ second play, Stendel hit Fischer Wait for a 25-yard TD strike.  The score was partially set up just prior, when Cal marched 73 yards only to come up empty scoring-wise, but they majorly flipped the field.  The late score sent Carl Fruechte’s group to half up 13-0.  Ben Stemper then added two third quarter TD runs (7 yards, 50 yards).  The first was set up when Allen forced and recovered a fumble deep in the Eagles end of the field.   Up 28-0 late in the third, said tally held as the final.  Stendel (8 of 14, 162 yards, 2 TDs) hit Allen (4-98, 2 TDs receiving) and Wait (2-31, TD receiving) for scores.  Stemper (4-67, 2 TDs rushing), Noah Schroeder (13-61 rushing), and Owen Staggemeyer (9-52 rushing) did work on the ground.  The Warriors were balanced with 158 yards passing, 196 rushing.  Lourdes ran for 65. passed for 18.   Caledonia improves to 1-0 overall.  

Football: Lions Hold Off AC/GE in Opener, 20-18

Bryce Berns was the leading tackler (12) while also running and passing visiting Spring Grove past Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons, 20-18. The senior signal-caller threw for a career-high 227 yards, including a 48-yard TD toss to Zach Brumm (4-128 receiving – career high). Ultimately, the two-point winning margin was the ensuing Berns to Ben Udstuen (3-99 receiving) two-point PAT pass for a 14-0 halftime lead. It was the only successful extra-point play of the night. With only 3:47 to play, A-C/G-E had a chance to tie the score with a two-point PAT pass, but Knight QB Landon Mattson was sacked by Dash Ranzenberger (10 tackles) to preserve the 20-18 margin. Most SG rushing success came on called pass plays when Berns scrambled three times for 64 of SG’s 90 total rushing yards, including a 28-yard TD scramble that made it 20-12 with only 6:48 to play. That came three plays after Berns had thrown a perfect 36-yard sideline bomb to Brumm who made the grab at full stride with a defender on his heels. Leading only 6-0 and pinned deep on third down, Berns hit Udstuen with a 51-yard pass that reversed field position. While Berns completed 8 of 13 passes (62%) for 227 yards (the Lions’ most aerial yardage in the last 13 games), A-C/G-E completed only one pass (1 for 15) for 23 yards. There were no interceptions.  SG, with 317 total yards, more than doubled the Knights’ 145. The only disaster with the ball in Berns’ hands was a sack fumble that was returned 48 yards for a Knight TD. That came only four plays after a missed tackle allowed Knight Darin Linn to race 60 yards to the end zone. Those two lightning-bolt plays cut the Lion 14-0 halftime lead down to 14-12 early in the second half. Later, Linn bolted 23 yards to make it 20-18. Mostly with four long runs, Linn (30 carries, 2 TD) gained 125 yards. But with 42 negative yards, A-C/G-E finished with only 122 yards rushing. The Knights lost 25 yards on an errant punt snap that gave SG the ball at the one-yard-line. On the next play, Berns scooted in for an early 6-0 lead. In the first half, the Knights were denied twice and SG once in the red zone. After giving up 38 yards of penalties, the Lion defense held on downs at their own 13. After a 30-yard kick-off return, an A-C/G-E drive stalled at the Lion 14. Then Grove threatened to take a three-touchdown lead into halftime, but an 11-play, 75-yard drive ran out of downs at the Knight 5-yard line. The kicking game was critical. Udstuen averaged 40 yards on three punts, while the Knights had two good punts (39 and 34 yards) and one shanked for only nine yards (27.3 average). SG gave up 20 and 30-yard kickoff returns to Knight sophomore Kaiden Farris. Each team had a punt play destroyed by an errant snap.  For SG, it was a seven-yard loss.  For A-C/G-E, it was a 25-yard loss that resulted in a one-yard Lion touchdown run. Each team missed two extra-point kicks and the Knights a field goal attempt as well. Each team called a two-point pass play. Berns and Udstuen connected; Mattson was sacked by Ranzenberger.

Football: Falcons Block Four Punts, Down Hayfield 48-6

In a season-opening Mid-Southeast-Blue contest, Hayfield had all sorts of trouble with Fillmore Central.   The Vikings had four punts blocked, all in the first quarter!   From there, Falcon 6’6” senior wideout Greg Kennedy had a 55-yard interception return TD, a 31-yard TD reception, and an 89-yard kickoff return TD.  The Falcons actually turned the ball over on their first two possessions but then scored on five straight plus the pick-six.  They rolled to a 34-0 halftime lead and a 48-6 win.  Kennedy (4-97 receiving) neared 100 yards through the air.  Bridon Bahl (8 of 11, 142 yards, 2 TDs, INT passing, 2-17, TD rushing) accounted for three scores in his first varsity start.  Davis Penhollow (32 yards) caught the other score.  Kane Larson (3-yards) and Anthony Kiehne (5-yards) added touchdowns on the ground.  FC had just 197 total yards but still scored 48 points. 

Football: Rowland and Defense Send Gophers Past Red Wing

In maybe the teams’ first meetings ever, Class AA Chatfield was way too much for Class AAA Red Wing in a cross-district contest.  Chatfield scored three first quarter touchdowns all via the air, as Carson Rowland hooked up with Ben Carrier twice (18 and 22 yards) and Kaisen Johnson once (8 yards) to stoke a 20-0 Gopher lead.  Red Wing did not get a first down until the third quarter with five three-and-outs to start the first half.   Chatfield added a pair of second quarter TDs and another in the third to stoke a 39-0 lead.  They prevailed 39-7.  Rowland (6 of 11, 118 yards, 3 TDs passing; 8-68, 2 TDs rushing) accounted for five scores.  Carrier (4-54, 2 TDs receiving) added a sack, and Johnson (2-30, TD receiving) an interception, to their receiving lines.  Chase Johnston (11-45, TD rushing) had a 40-yard catch that led to his rushing TD.  Red Wing finished with 87 yards total offense (37 rushing, 50 passing).  Ethan Cole, Mitchel Hinckley and Ayden Miner added sacks for the Gophers.  Chatfield improved to 0-0, 1-0.  

Football: Cougars Dominate GM, 42-8

Mabel-Canton bolted to a 20-0 first quarter lead and scored the game’s first 42 points in beating Grand Meadow in a South-East opener.  The Cougars’ first two drives combined to go 145 yards on just six plays, and M-C then recovered a fumble for a touchdown late in the first quarter, to jump ahead 20-0.  They had just one punt in their first six offensive possessions while GM punted on its first four series.  Cougar senior Tyler Larson ran for 185 yards and 2 TDs on just 13 carries.  Kale Tollefsrud affected the game in three ways, rushing (7 carries, 47 yards), receiving (2 catches, 68 yards, TD), and on defense (35-yard fumble return TD).  Isaac Underbakke completed four of six passes (107 yards) for two scores.  Kale Eiken had rushing (13-yards) and a receiving TD (22-yards).  GM didn’t score until the fourth quarter on a 55-yard Brady Hrykas TD run. He led GM in rushing (two carries, 62 yards).  The Larks only attempted one pass.  M-C improved to 1-0 in the South-East, 1-0 overall.  GM fell to 0-1, 0-1.  

Football: Trojans Fall in Final Minute to Blossoms

A year ago, Rushford-Peterson fell to Blooming Prairie in the season opener 43-8.  To start this season, the Trojans had chances for the win before the Blossoms snuck it out in the end.   On fourth and eight, Drew Kittleson hit Gabe Staloch on a 11-yard across-the-middle touchdown strike with 25 seconds left for the game-winning score, putting BP ahead 21-18.  The play was set up when Kittleson hooked up with Alex Lea for a 35-yard reception a few plays earlier.  R-P took an 18-14 lead late in the third quarter on a Caden Johnson 8-yard TD run.  A Domanick Corcoran interception in the fourth quarter seemed to have R-P in a good position for victory.  But their ensuing series did not garner a first down.  BP began their subsequent and last drive at their own 42, canvassing 58 yards in six plays.  Johnson (4 of 10, 97 yards, TD, INT passing; TD rushing) and Jonah Bunke (18-49, TD rushing; 19-yard TD reception) had the Trojans’ scores.  Corcoran had an interception, recovered a fumble, and reeled in a 56-yard reception that set up R-P’s first score.   Kittleson (10 of 23, 122 yards, 2 TDs, INT passing) accounted for all three Blossom scores including a 47-yard interception return TD in the third quarter.  The Trojans are 0-1, 0-1.

South-East Football (8/30) 

Southland 21, Houston 14 (H: M. Rodriguez 29-127 rushing, 3 of 5, 35 yards, INT passing; Aden Kulas 14-35, TD rushing; Morgan Rohweder 1-yard TD run; Zach Olson 4-45 receiving.  In a 14-14 game in the fourth quarter, Rebel Henry Wiste hit Beau Sathre on a 64-yard TD pass to put the Rebels ahead 21-14.  Houston’s final 12-play drive came up short in the Rebel red zone as time expired.  Houston ran for 183 yards but threw for 52 yards while Southland ran for 19 but threw for 148.  Houston had three turnovers to Southland’s one.  Houston QB Rohweder was hurt in the first half.  Hurricanes are 0-1, 0-1)  

Cross-District Football (8/29)

Lanesboro 0, Hills-Beaver Creek 52 (The Patriots were 9-Man Section 3 champs last year and lost to Kingsland in the state quarterfinals.  Lanesboro is 0-0, 0-1)