It did not rain on Spring Grove’s homecoming parade, but afternoon sunny skies were replaced by rain and the Southland Rebels, both of which dampened the Oct. 1 evening football festivities at Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field. In a 46-14 loss, the Lions (2-2, 2-2 sub-district) dazzled the umbrella-grabbing spectators with three long aerial connections, including their only two scoring plays – first a 49-yard pass-and-run from quarterback Elijah Solum to homecoming king tight end Carson Gerard. After Solum was shaken up, Tysen Grinde stepped in to hit a sprinting Caleb Griffin with a 30-yard pass into the end zone. Griffin tacked on extra-point kicks after the TD tosses. But it was 20-0 before Spring Grove scored, and it was 32-7 before the second score made it 32-14 at halftime.
A 26-yard pass from Grinde to closely-defended Jaxon Strinmoen was an outstanding over-the-shoulder strike, but the threat ended with a first-down fumble at the Rebel 30 yard-line, one of five lost Lion fumbles. Solum completed 2 of 5 passes for 60 yards, and Grinde – in his first venture at quarterback – completed 8 of 19 for 99 yards. Gerard had four receptions for 81 yards.
Meanwhile, the defense could not control Rebel running back Brendan Kennedy who amassed 300 yards of all-purpose running – 20 carries for 143 rushing yards, 134 receiving yards and 23 return yards. The 200-pound senior scored four times with carries of 2, 20, 5 and 7 yards and also led the Southland stop troops with 11 tackles, 9 solo. His 260-pound senior running mate Christian Luthe, rambled 10 times for 83 yards, including three touchdown carries for 9, 2 and 5 yards.
Southland, an experienced, physical squad, scored on all seven forays into the red zone – all on running plays, but 44 and 49-yard passes from Harrison Hanna to Kennedy were the key plays on two scoring drives. The 6-foot-2 senior signal-caller completed 7 of 12 passes with no interceptions and only one sack. The Lions came up empty on three red-zone penetrations – at the 19 yard-line (downs), at the 13 (downs) and at the 10 (fumble).
Both teams had about the same number of passing yards – SG 159, Southland 151. But the Rebels out-rushed the Lions, 252 yards to 83. The Spring Grove offense had 11 lost-yardage plays that deducted 44 yards from the rushing total. Four the fourth time in as many games, the Lions were limited to fewer that 100 yards rushing.
After no fumbles and no turnovers the previous week, the Lions fumbled 10 times, losing five versus the Rebels. The sixth turnover came with an interception on a long third-down pass, which was comparable to an ensuing punt had the pass been incomplete. The Rebels dropped the ball eight times, but lost only two of those fumbles.
Solum was the leading Lion tackler with 13 stops (8 solo) while Reid Bjerke was in on nine tackles and Grinde in on seven. Strinmoen and Noah Blackburn combined for the only sack of the night.
After Spring Grove’s first three contests had been competitive throughout and the outcomes in doubt down to the wire, this fourth game lacked any late drama. Southland, after an 0-2 start, improved to 3-2 (3-2 sub-district) and avenged a 2019 loss to the Lions, their only other 9-man meeting. Including 11-man clashes, the Rebels now lead the series, 11 wins to 3.
Southland 46, SG 14
SG—0—14—0—0 = 14
Sou–8—24—7—7 = 46
SG 2-2, (2-2 sub-district); Sou 3-2, (2-2 sub-district)
Team totals
YARDAGE: (rush + pass) SG 242 (83+159), Sou 403 (252+151)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.) SG 29-83 (2.9); Sou 52-252 (4.9) 7 TD
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD) SG 10-25-1, 159 yds., 2 TD; Sou 7-12-0, 151 yds.
Sacks allowed: SG 0, Sou 1
TD: SG 2 pass; Sou 7 rush
PAT: SG 2-2 (2-2 kick); Sou 3-7 (2-3 kick, 1-2 run, 0-2 pass)
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 54, Sou 64
AVG. yards per play: SG 4.5, Sou 5.3
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 10-5, Sou 8-2
TURNOVERS: SG 6, Sou 2
PENALTIES: SG 4-30; Sou 3-25
3rd downs: SG 3 for 11, Sou 4 for 8
4th downs: SG 0 for 4, Sou 0 for 2
Red zone: SG 0 for 3, Sou 7 for 7
First downs: SG 10, Sou 18
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 4, Sou 6
LION INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING Tysen Grinde 7-79, Reid Bjerke 9-28, Zach Brumm 2-6, Caleb Eiken 2-(-3), Caleb Griffin 1-(-6), Elijah Solum 5-(-11), team 3-(-10)
PASSING: Elijah Solum 2-5-1, 60 yds., TD; Tysen Grinde 8-19-0, 99 yds., TD, Caleb Eiken 0-1-0
RECEIVING: Carson Gerard 4-81, TD; Jaxon Strinmoen 3-45; Caleb Griffin 2-34, TD; Reid Bjerke 1-(-1)
SCORING: Caleb Griffin 8, Carson Gerard 6
PUNTING: Gavin Ostern 1-34, Tysen Grinde 2-61 (30.5 avg.)
INTERCEPTIONS: none;
PASS BREAKUPS: Elijah Solum 1, Bryce Berns 1, Tysen Grinde 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Elijah Solum 1, Shawn Crouch 1
FUMBLES FORCED: none
SACKS: Jaxon Strinmoen 0.5, Noah Blackburn 0.5
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks): Jaxon Strinmoen 1.5, Zach Brumm 1.0, Austin Conway 0.5, Noah Blackburn 0.5, Nate Crouch 0.5
TACKLES (solo + assists): Elijah Solum 13 (8+5), Reid Bjerke 9 (4+5), Tysen Grinde 7 (4+3), Jaxon Strinmoen 5 (3+2), Noah Blackburn 5 (2+3), Caleb Griffin 4 (3+1), Bryce Berns 4 (2+2), Carson Gerard 4 (2+2), Ty Cleven 3 (2+1), Logan Brumm 2 (1+1), Asher Liptack 1 (1+0), Jacob Olerud 1 (1+0), Zach Brumm 1 (1+0), Nate Crouch 1 (0+1), Austin Conway 1 (0+1).
KICKOFF RETURNS: Reid Bjerke 4-49, Tysen Grinde 3-57, Caleb Griffin 1-18
Spring Grove football 2021
2-2 (2-2 sub-district)
7:00 p.m. kickoff unless noted (series records go back to 1949)
W at Houston 14-0 (Lions lead series 43-30-2)
Sat. Sept. 11 Lyle/Pacelli, CANCELED (SG won last year 36-22; Lions have won last 14, lead series 17-2)
W 28-26 at Mabel-Canton (Lions have won last 17; Cougars lead series 36-26)
L vs. Grand Meadow 17-20 (GM has won the last four; GM leads series 35-10)
L vs. Southland 14-46 (Rebels lead series 11-3)
Fri. Oct. 8 at LeRoy-Ostrander (L-O won last year 42-16; Cardinals lead series 14-13)
Fr. Oct. 15 Kingsland (SG won last year 34-8; Lions lead series 2-0)
Wed. Oct. 20 at Lanesboro (Burros won last year 36-14; Lions lead series 27-22-3)
>>B-team football (1 win, 0 losses)
at Mabel-Canton, canceled
at Kingsland, canceled
Mabel-Canton, canceled
W at Houston 20-12
Mon. Oct. 4 at Grand Meadow
Mon. Oct. 11 Lanesboro
>>Junior high football (2 wins, 1 loss)
W vs. LeRoy-Ostrander 40-33
Mon. Sept. 13 at Kingsland, canceled
L vs. Mabel-Canton 25-32 (storm ended game in second half)
W at Houston 39-6
Mon. Oct. 11 Lanesboro
Mon. Oct. 18 at Southland