Gopher Football Opens State Title Defense, Beats AAA Lourdes

The last time Chatfield football stepped on the gridiron for a game, they took home the state title.   To open their 2022 season, and their state title defense, the Gophers took out Class AAA Rochester-Lourdes in an inter-district contest.  But the onset wasn’t particularly championship worthy.  The Eagles turned an early interception into points.  Lourdes QB Adam Sellner’s 1-yard TD run made it 7-0 early.  The Eagles led 7-6 after one quarter and the score was just 14-6 Gophers late in the first half.  But Chatfield rattled off 35-unanswered points, including scoring with 0:44 on the second quarter clock to make it 20-7 at intermission.  They built a 35-7 lead and cruised to a 35-14 win.  The game was called early in the 4th quarter due to lightening.  Naturally, senior QB/RB Sam Backer led the surge.  He authored first half TD runs of 60, 43, and 10 yards, while adding a special 23-yard TD run in the second half.  Kail Schott also found paydirt (1-yard) after intermission.  Backer (19-213, 4 TDs rushing, 5 of 10, 105 yards, INT passing) finished with another 200-yard game (though he had a couple fumbles).  Schott (9-46, TD rushing) and Jackson Schild (9-36 rushing, 2-29 receiving) added to a Gopher attack which amassed 287 rushing yards, 391 total yards (in basically three quarters). Chatfield is 0-0, 1-0.