After giving up an early touchdown, the Spring Grove defense took control of the 9-man state semi-final between undefeated teams on Nov. 17 at U. S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. During the 27-6 Lion win against state-ranked No. 2 Fertile-Beltrami, Tysen Grinde logged 198 yards of all-purpose running, including a stunning 76-yard punt return. Despite Elijah Solum completing 12 of 18 passes, the state-ranked No. 3 Lions, for the first time this season, did not have a passing touchdown and gained a season-low 116 aerial yards. But Hunter Holland ran for 124 yards, his sixth 100-plus performance of the year. However, it was Solum (19 carries, 67 yards) who scored all three rushing touchdowns on 14, 2 and 4-yard carries.
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Head coach Kody Moore was quick to credit both the Lion offensive and defensive linemen. Thaty included Noah Blackburn, Logan Brumm, Ty Cleven, Emmet Engeldinger, Brandon Jahnke and Cooper Olson. “The defense did its job.” He said one goal was to limit the rushing of Isaiah Wright, who was held to 58 yards on 17 carries (3.4 yards per carry) with a longest gain of 12 yards. The normally run-oriented Falcons had little success on the ground, again 3.4 yards per rush. SG outgained F-B 188 yards to 156 rushing and 116 to 91 passing. The Falcons’ most explosive play was a 19-yard touchdown pass from Caiden Swenby to tight end Ryan Van Den Einde. That play capped a 13-play, 83-yard drive on the first Fertile-Beltrami possession. That was only the third time all season that Spring Grove had trailed.
That 6-0 lead lasted only 71 seconds. The Lions who had gone three-and-out after receiving the opening kickoff used only five plays to seize the lead. Back to pass, Solum was chased by three Falcons to the sideline where he found Grinde (5-64 yards receiving), who turned a short, desperate pass into a 28-yard gain (the longest play of the game) down to the F-B 22 yard-line. Solum would run the final 14 yards and then hold for Caleb Griffin’s extra-point kick and a 7-6 Lion lead. Four plays later, Grinde’s punt return made it 14-6, just two minutes and 21 seconds after the Falcon TD.
Neither team scored during the middle two periods, but the Lions threatened twice before halftime. A 46-yard drive ended with a fumble at the Falcon 4 yard-line. And then a 17-play, 77-yard march ended on downs at the Falcon 10. Both squads came in averaging over 44 points per game. The Falcons, after scoring on their first possession, threatened only one more time all game. After an interception provided good field position at the Lion 36, a fourth-down, sideline tackle by Jaxon Strinmoen at the SG 7, preserved a still-precarious 14-6 Lion lead.
The Grove guys did not create a little more breathing room until a 6-play (all runs), 81-yard march ended with a 2-yard Solum carry with 8:22 to play. Grinde made a leaping interception to kickstart the final scoring drive of 52 yards. Solum scored from four yards out, and it was 27-6 with 2:45 on the clock. The final Falcon possession ended with quarterback sack by Logan Brumm.
There were no explosive scrimmage plays. F-B prevented any long Lion pass completions, but Solum and five different receivers enjoyed success with short and medium-length passes along with a ground attack that averaged 4.8 yards per carry. Besides Grinde’s punt return, the play of the game came with Solum scrambling to his left and flicking with his right hand a short toss to Griffin for an eventual 12-yard gain and first down.
Solum was also the leading tackler with 13 stops. Griffin had 10 tackles, Emmet Engeldinger 9, Brumm 9, Ethan Crouch 8 and Jacob Olerud 8.
Spring Grove had scored on its first possession in 10 of the 12 previous games; it did not happen against the state’s No. 2-ranked team. However, as the Lions had the previous two times they had fallen behind, replied quickly to grab the lead. The Grove defense then shut the door and shut out the Falcons during their final 10 possessions. F-B, the defending state runner-up, closed at 11-1. The Lions (13-0), in their fifth trip to state, return to the championship game for the third straight time, planning on adding to their 2017 and 2018 state titles.
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Team totals
YARDAGE (rush+pass): SG 304 (188+116); FB 247 (156+91)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.): SG 39-188 (4.8) 3 TD; FB 46-156 (3.4)
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD)
SG 12-18-1, 116; FB 8-22-1, 91 (TD)
Sacks allowed: SG 0, FB 2
TD: SG 4 (rush 3, spec. teams 1); FB 1 (pass 1)
PAT: SG 3-4 (kick 3-4); FB 0-1 (pass 0-1)
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 57, FB 68
AVG. yards per play: SG 5.3, FB 3.6
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 3-1, FB 1-0
TURNOVERS: SG 2, FB 1
PENALTIES: SG 3-30, FB 6-70
3rd downs: SG 6-11, FB 5/16
4th downs: SG 1-2, FB 3-5
Red zone: SG 3-5, FB 1-2
First downs: SG 16, FB 15
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 2, FB 0
LION INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING 39-188, 3 TD: Hunter Holland 17-124; Elijah Solum 19-67, 3 TD; team 3-(-3)
PASSING: Elijah Solum 12-18-1, 116 yds.
RECEIVING 12-116: Tysen Grinde 5-64, Caleb Griffin 2-28, Ethan Crouch 1-9, Hunter Holland 1-8, Jaxon Strinmoen 3-7
XP KICKING: Caleb Griffin 3-4
KICKOFF RETURNS: Tysen Grinde 1-14, Zach Brumm 1-18
PUNT RETURNS: Tysen Grinde 3-94, TD
SCORING 27: Elijah Solum 18, Tysen Grinde 12, Caleb Griffin 3
PUNTING: Tysen Grinde 3-43.0 avg.
INTERCEPTIONS: Tysen Grinde 1-16 yds.
PASS BREAKUPS 4: Jacob Olerud 2, Jaxon Strinmoen 1, Tysen Grinde 1
FUMBLES FORCED: Caleb Griffin 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: none
SACKS 2: Logan Brumm 1.5; Ethan Crouch 0.5
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks) 5: Logan Brumm 2.0; Ethan Crouch 1.5; Elijah Solum 1.0; Emmet Engeldinger 0.5
TACKLES (solo+assists): Elijah Solum 13 (6+7), Caleb Griffin 10 (6+4), Emmet Engeldinger 9 (4+5), Logan Brumm 9 (4+5), Jacob Olerud 8 (4+4), Ethan Crouch 8 (3+5), Tysen Grinde 7 (6+1`), Noah Blackburn 5 (1+4), Jaxon Strinmoen 4 (4+0), Zach Brumm 4 (1+3), Ty Cleven 2 (2+0), Bryce Berns 1 (1+0)
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F-B INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING 46-156: Isaiah Wright 17-58, Caiden Swenby 11-52, Derek Sorenson 8-20:, Brayden Werpy 7-19, Bryer Strem 1-4, Jonah Harstad 2-3
PASSING: Caiden Swenby 8-22-1, 91 yds., TD
RECEIVING 8-91, TD: Ryan Van Den Einde 3-44, TD; Derek Sorenson 3-22; Brody Raaen 1-13; Brayden Werpy 1-12
SCORING: Ryan Van Den Einde 6
PUNTING: Caiden Swenby 6-37.8 avg.
INTERCEPTIONS: Caiden Swenby 1- 5 yards
KICKOFF RETURNS: Isaiah Wright 3-70
PUNT RETURNS: none
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