Friday was a crazy day for a lot of reasons. The school was nearly empty with so many students gone for the soccer game — and, of course, it was Halloween. Thank goodness we still had football on a Friday night to bring some normalcy to the day. The weather conditions weren’t ideal, but that’s something we can’t control. I’ve been proud of how this team has handled adversity all season, their ability to maintain focus and just doing their job on the football field.

We faced a familiar playoff opponent in the East Ridge Raptors, a team we’ve matched up with several times this time of year. They’re always well-coached and do a great job getting the most out of their players, and this year was no different. They gave us some defensive looks that created a few challenges. Their quarterback did a nice job extending plays with his feet, and they were able to put more points on the board than I would’ve liked.

Even so, we had several guys step up in a big way. Beaux Thyen, Ryder Skanson, and Will Raymond all finished with double-digit tackles. Gavin Elmquist came up with a huge interception that stopped one of their drives and shifted momentum back our way. Defensively, we learned a lot from the game, and I’m confident our guys will bounce back strong this week.

Offensively, we continued to roll and show just how many weapons we have across the field. Both Kaden Harney and James Engle scored three rushing touchdowns each. James also broke the single-season rushing touchdown record and then added a couple more for good measure. We had eight different players record a reception and came close to 300 yards through the air. In total, we finished with eight touchdowns and 501 yards of offense.

Our offensive line deserves a ton of credit, and they often go unnoticed.  They opened up running lanes all night and kept the quarterback protected on every pass attempt. I love what our offensive identity has become, and how determined the group is each week to keep perfecting it. I’m excited to see them go to work again this week against a great Lakeville South team.

Speaking of that, we’ve earned the opportunity to play Lakeville South in the state quarterfinals at Eastview High School on Friday night at 6 p.m. It’ll be our last outdoor game of the year, and our first goal is to earn a trip to U.S. Bank Stadium. That will take another great week of preparation and a locked-in mindset on Friday night.

I’m looking forward to this week and can’t wait to see Crimson Nation show up strong. So make the trip down to Eastview and help turn their blue stadium Crimson red.

LEAVE NO DOUBT! FEAR THE LEAF! FIND A WAY!

Go Crimson

Coach Spurrell