Photo by Lee Epps
On a foggy, soggy Sept. 3 at Houston, defenses dominated Spring Grove’s lowest-scoring game in 22 years, but the Lion offense came up with enough big plays for a 14-0 victory, which extended the Lions’ winning streak against the Hurricanes to 16. Sophomore Elijah Solum, in his first varsity start at quarterback, completed 12 of 18 passes (one interception) for 189 yards and a touchdown. After the scoreless first half, Solum threw deep to Tysen Grinde for a 65-yard TD on the third play after halftime.
Grinde would finish with a career-high 128 receiving yards with only four catches, three of which covered 30 yards or more. His 37-yard reception kick-started a 66-yard drive as the Lions added a fourth-quarter insurance tally with Hunter Holland carrying the final three yards and then three more for the extra points.
Solum, from his linebacker position, was also the leading tackler with 15 stops (nine solo) as the Lions posted their first shutout since the 2017 state championship game. With nine tackles by Logan Brumm and eight by Holland, Spring Grove limited the Hurricanes to only 179 yards of offense (75 rushing, 104 passing).
Most critical to the shutout was a fumble forced by Camron Kraus and recovered by Carson Gerard. That score-saving play came on the game’s first possession after Houston had earned a first-down-and-goal at Lion 5 yard-line. After taking the opening kick-off, the Hurricanes covered 60 yards in only eight plays before their only turnover of the game denied them an early lead and ultimately what would have been their only score.
But that long opening drive helped determine field position for the entire first half. Spring Grove did not snap the ball in Houston territory until just six seconds before halftime. Every Lion possession of the game started in the Lions’ defensive half of the field, whereas the ‘Canes began five of their nine possessions in Spring Grove territory. After an interception and an errant punt snap, the Lions first three possessions began on their own 5, 6 and 13 yard-lines.
The first Spring Grove touchdown was that three-play thrust with Solum’s 65-yard scoring toss to Grinde. The second scoring drive covered 66 yards in six plays, highlighted by Solum’s 37-yard completion to Grinde and 18-yard pass to sophomore classmate Jaxon Strinmoen.
The Spring Grove defense saved the day until the offense kicked into gear. The Hurricanes’ opening 60-yard drive accounted for a third of their total offense of 179 yards. Houston, after converting its first two third downs, went 0-for-10 on third down the rest of the night. The ‘Canes converted two early fourth-down plays, but the Lion defense would eventually stop six fourth-down attempts – in order at the SG 6, 27, 11, 44, 34 and 26 yard-lines. Twice the ‘Canes could not score after first downs at the Lion 5 and 3 yard-lines.
It was the first time in the teams’ last eight meetings that the ‘Canes threw more passes (22) than did Spring Grove (18). Houston’s all-district quarterback Isaac Heyer, who had attempted only two passes in last year’s season opener at Spring Grove and five passes in their section rematch, completed 5-of-5 aerials during the first quarter of this year’s lid-lifter. Completions for 17 and 20 yards were the key plays in that game-opening drive. The Lions never intercepted Heyer, but five Lions were credited with pass breakups – Holland, Grinde, Strinmoen, Solum and Brumm. The Hurricane attack revolved around Heyer, who handed off only once while carrying the ball himself on 31 of Houston’s 32 running plays.
On the downside for the Lions, there were too many penalties (7), including four 15-yard mark-offs, and too many times they put the ball on the ground (6), including the first extra-points attempt. They lost the turnover battle, 3 to 1. But there were numerous big stops by the defense and just enough big plays on offense for the Lions to claim a 16th consecutive victory in the series they now lead 43 wins to 30 with 2 ties (since 1949). Considering plays covering 20 or more yards, Spring Grove had seven (4 runs, 3 passes) while limiting Houston to one – a 20-yard pass on the fifth play of the game.
The contest’s 14 total points was the lowest-scoring Spring Grove game in 22 years, since a 12-0 shutout of Lanesboro in 1999. Halftime scores have survived only for the last 19 seasons, during which there have been no other Spring Grove games when it was 0-0 at halftime. It was the Lions’ first shutout of Houston in 10 years – since a 46-0 rout in 2011. Oddly enough, it was the third shutout among five season-opening games involving East Sub-district squads.
The Lions next play on Saturday, Sept. 11 with a rare 5 p.m. kickoff at Blayne Onsgard Field, where they seek to extend a 16-game winning streak against Lyle/Pacelli. The Athletics lost their opener, 16-6, at home against Mabel-Canton.
WEEK ONE 9-man sub-district scores
at Lanesboro 28, Grand Meadow 0
at LeRoy-Ostrander 57, Southland 26
Spring Grove 14, at Houston 0
Mabel-Canton 16, at Lyle/Pacelli 6
Kingsland 16, at Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 0
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SG 14, at Houston 0
SG —0—0—6—8 = 14
Hou – 0 – 0- 0 – 0 = 0
YARDAGE – Team total (rush + pass)
SG 254 (65+189); Hou 179 (75+104)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.)
SG 35-65 (1.9); Hou 32-75 (2.3)
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD)
SG 12-18-1, 189 yds. (1); Hou 11-22-0, 104 yds. (0)
Sacks allowed: SG 2, Hou 1
TD: SG 2 (1 pass, 1 run); Hou 0
PAT: SG 1-2 (1-2 run)
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 53, Hou 54
AVG. yards per play: SG 4.8, Hou 3.3
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 5-2, Hou 3-1
TURNOVERS: SG 3, Hou 1
PENALTIES: SG 7-74, Hou 4-26
3rd downs: SG 3-8, Hou 2-12
4th downs: SG 1-1, Hou 2-8
Red zone: SG 1-1, Hou 0-3
First downs: SG 17, Hou 9
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 7, Hou 1
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LION INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING: Hunter Holland 17-56, TD (+PAT); Elijah Solum 12-43; team 6-(-34)
PASSING: Eli Solum 12-18-1, 189 yds, TD
RECEIVING 12-189, TD: Tysen Grinde 4-128, TD; Carson Gerard 2-23; Jaxon Strinmoen 1-18; Reid Bjerke 3-15; Hunter Holland 2-5
SCORING 14: Hunter Holland 8, Tysen Grinde 6
PUNTING: Tysen Grinde 2-53 (26.5 avg.)
INTERCEPTIONS: none
PASS BREAKUPS 5: Logan Brumm 1, Elijah Solum 1, Jaxon Strinmoen 1, Hunter Holland 1, Tysen Grinde 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES 1: Carson Gerard 1
FUMBLES FORCED 1: Camron Kraus 1
SACKS 1: Logan Brumm 1
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks): Logan Brumm 2 ½; Camron Kraus 2; Elijah Solum 1 ½
TACKLES (solo + assists): Elijah Solum 15 (9+6); Logan Brumm 9 (4+5); Hunter Holland 8 (6+2); Noah Blackburn 6 (3+3); Jaxon Strinmoen 4 (2+2); Caleb Griffin 3 (3+0); Camron Kraus 3 (3+0); Reid Bjerke 3 (2+1); Carson Gerard 2 (2+0); Tysen Grinde 2 (1+1); Gavin Ostern 1 (1+0)
KICKOFF RETURNS: Hunter Holland 1-6
PUNT RETURNS: none
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Houston INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING: Isaac Heyer 31-72; Caden Ness 1-3
PASSING: Isaac Heyer 11-22-0, 104 yds
RECEIVING 11-104: Ethan Hargrove 4-50; Zachary Olson 4-37; Kameron Morgan 2-15; Maddox Rodriguez 1-2
Spring Grove football 2021
1-0 (1-0 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 5 p.m. (SG won last year 36-22; Lions have won last 14, lead series 17-2)
Fri. Sept. 17 at Mabel-Canton (SG won last year 28-24; Lions have won last 16, lead series 36-25)
Fri. Sept. 24 Grand Meadow (GM has won the last three; GM leads series 34-10)
Fri. Oct. 1 Southland (have not played in 20 years; Rebels lead series 10-2)
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)
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B-team football (6 p.m. kickoffs)
Tues. Sept. 7 Mabel-Canton
Mon. Sept. 13 at Kingsland
Mon. Sept. 20 Mabel-Canton
Mon. Sept. 27 at Houston
Mon. Oct. 4 at Grand Meadow
Mon. Oct. 11 Lanesboro
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Junior high football (4:30 p.m. kickoffs)
Tues. Sept. 7 LeRoy-Ostrander
Mon. Sept. 13 at Kingsland
Mon. Sept. 20 Mabel-Canton
Mon. Sept. 27 at Houston
Mon. Oct. 11 Lanesboro
Mon. Oct. 18 at Southland