Photo by Lee Epps
Spring Grove scored on three of its first four possessions against Kingsland at Spring Valley on October 30. It would be a 27-point eruption before halftime before the Lion offense sputtered during the second half of an eventual 34-8 sub-district victory.
However, the Spring Grove starting defense never wavered, limiting the home team to only 1-of-13 success on third downs and no success on four fourth-down plays. The Knight starters had earned only two first downs before reserves earned 81 of Kingsland’s 117 total yards while reserves of both teams played the final seven minutes.
The Lions displayed balance with 205 yards rushing and 192 in the air. SG drove 67 and 75 yards for their first two scores. After reaching the Knight 3 yard-line, a bad snap on first down scuttled the next opportunity. But after an ensuing 87-yard drive, it was 21-0 after four possessions. Isaac Griffin’s 23-yard interception return to the Knight 25 yard-line set up the Lions’ fourth touchdown on the way to a 27-0 halftime bulge.
It was another short field when Noah Blackburn and Caden Grinde stopped a Kingsland fourth-down run at the Knight 24 in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Reynolds then scored the only Lion TD of the second half for a 34-0 lead.
Reynolds led all rushers with 85 yards, including that 1-yard TD run. Hunter Holland scored on two of his five carries with 26 and 8-yard runs. Griffin scored on a 1-yard run, threw a 1-yard TD pass to Caden Grinde and kicked four extra points.
Griffin, after 81 passes this season, threw his first interception. Griffin (15-26-2) was intercepted twice but returned the favor by picking off a pair of Kingsland passes. His three defensive interceptions this season makes him the sub-district leader.
Griffin completed 15 passes to six different receivers; Carson Gavin had 4 receptions for 60 yards. Tysen Grinde had 2 catches for 55 yards and also intercepted an enemy aerial.
KHS (1-3) averted the shutout with Beau Wiersma running 39 yards to set up a 19-yard TD run by Kale Mensink, who then passed to Ayden Howard for the 2-point conversion. It was the lone trip into the red zone for the home team.
Caden Grinde led Lion tacklers for the fourth time in four games with 13 stops at Kingsland. Holland had 12 tackles with another 11 from Gavin.
Each team had three turnovers. Both teams came in with 1-2 records before Spring Grove returned home at 2-2. The Lions have won both games versus Kingsland, which is playing 9-man football for only the second season.
SCORING SUMMARY
SG 34, Kingsland 8
SG–14—13—0—7 = 34
KHS—0—0—-0—8 = 8
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FIRST QUARTER
SG 7, KHS 0
1 run Isaac Griffin (Griffin kick)
Drive: 67 yards, 7 plays
Keys: 29 pass, 20 run
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SG 14, KHS 0
1 pass Caden Grinde from Griffin (Griffin kick)
Drive: 75 yards, 12 plays
Keys: 27 run; 10, 1 2 , 10 passes
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SECOND QUARTER
SG 21, KHS 0
26 run Hunter Holland (Griffin kick)
Drive: 87 yards, 8 plays
Keys:17 pass; 23 run
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SG 27, KHS 0
8 run Holland (kick fail)
Drive: 25 yards, 2 plays
Keys: 23 interception return, 17 run
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THIRD QUARTER
FOURTH QUARTER
SG 34, KHS 0
1 run Mitchell Reynolds (Griffin kick)
Drive: 24 yards, 5 plays
Keys: 10 run
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SG 34, KHS 8
19 run Kale Mensink (pass Ayden Howard from Mensink)
Drive: 70 yards, 5 plays
Keys: 39 run
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Team total
YARDAGE (rush + pass): SG 397 (205+192);
KHS 117 (80+37)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.): SG 39-205 yds., 4TD (5.3);
KHS 36-80, TD (2.2)
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD): SG 15-31-2, 192 yds. (TD)
KHS 3-13-3, 37 +PAT
SACKS ALLOWED: SG 3, KHS 1
TD SG 4 run, 1 pass
TD KHS: 1 run
PAT: SG 4-5 (4-5 kick); KHS 1-1 (1-1 pass)
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 70, KHS 49
AVG. yards per play: SG 5.7, KHS 2.4
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 3-1; KHS 8-0
TURNOVERS: SG 3, KHS 3
PENALTIES: SG 8-64, KHS 6-35
3rd downs: SG 5-12, KHS 1-13
4th downs: SG 1-4, KHS 0-4
Red zone: SG 4-5, KHS 1-1
First downs: SG 21, KHS 5
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 6, KHS 1
SG INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING: Mitchell Reynolds 13-85, TD; Hunter Holland 5-67, 2TD; Isaac Griffin 12-37, TD; Caden Grinde 6-22: Jaxon Strinmoen 1-(-2); Caleb Griffin 2-(-4)
PASSING: Isaac Griffin 15-26-2, 192 yards, TD; Caden Grinde 0-5-0
RECEIVING: Carson Gavin 4-60; Tysen Grinde 2-55; Caden Grinde 5-45, TD: Mitchell Reynolds 1-12; Reid Bjerke 2-11; Hunter Holland 1-9
SCORING: Hunter Holland 12, Isaac Griffin 10, Mitchell Reynolds 6, Caden Grinde 6
PUNTING: Caden Grinde 2-63 (31.5 avg.); Caleb Griffin 1-28
INTERCEPTIONS: Isaac Griffin 2-23 yards; Tysen Grinde 1- no return
PASS BREAKUPS: Caden Grinde 1, Ethan Crouch 1
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: none
SACKS: Hunter Holland 1
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks): Hunter Holland 2.0; Carson Gavin 2.0; Tysen Grinde 1.0; Tristan Hammel 0.5; Caden Grinde 0.5
TACKLES (solo + assists): Caden Grinde 13 (6+7), Hunter Holland 12 (4+8), Carson Gavin 11 (7+4), Isaac Griffin 4 (1+3), Tristan Hammel 4 (0+4), Reid Bjerke 3 (2+1), Tysen Grinde 3 (1+2), Mitchell Reynolds 2 (1+1), Ty Cleven 2 (1+1), Braedon Solie 2 (1+1), Jacob Olerud 2 (0+2), Noah Blackburn 2 (0+2), Ethan Crouch 2 (0+2), Cameron Kraus 1 (0+1)
KICKOFF RETURNS: Caden Grinde 1-13
PUNT RETURNS: Caden Grinde 1-11
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Spring Grove football 2020
2-2 (2-2 sub-district)
W vs. Houston 33-16
L at Grand Meadow 6-40
L vs. Lanesboro 14-36
W at Kingsland 34-8
Nov. 7 at Lyle/Pacelli (Sat. at Lyle, 1 p.m.)
Nov. 13 vs. Mabel-Canton
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Lion B-Team
2-2
W at Mabel-Canton 8-6
L vs. Lanesboro 0-36
W at Houston 12-6
L vs. Mabel-Canton 26-36
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Spring Grove Junior High
4-0
W at Mabel-Canton 46-13
W vs. Lanesboro 48-20
W at Houston 46-34
W vs. Mabel-Canton 44-6
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