The improving Maple Grove football team won their second game of the season on Friday, Sept. 18, as it defeated Park Center 33-0 in football action.

Head coach Craig Hansen said he was very pleased to see his team continue to improve and liked the fact that the team cut down on mental errors and improved their execution during the game. “That was a big objective this week, to do things correctly and consistently and they really followed through,” said Hansen.

Hansen said improvement was both offensive and defensive. He said Park Center is a good team, and that for Maple Grove, it was exciting to be able to beat an inter-district team.

The Crimson got on the board in the first quarter when junior fullback Caleb Marx had a one yard touchdown run late in the quarter. This touchdown was followed up with a two-point conversion, which was a pass from quarterback C.J. Woodrow to Jeff Hesse.

In the second quarter, Woodrow has a 26 yard touchdown run on an option play to make the score 14-0. The Crimson tacked on their third touchdown late in the quarter with a 13 yard touchdown pass to Hesse, with Justin Lehman, senior halfback, following up his touchdown with a two point conversion run.

The final touchdown was scored toward the end of the third quarter when Caleb Marx scored again on a six yard touchdown run, and a pass from Woodrow to Hesse for the two point conversion.

Woodrow finished with six completions of 12 attempts for 90 yards and no interceptions. Marx had 12 carries for 41 yards, Lehman had 18 carries for 76 yards and Woodrow went with six carries for 103 yards. In all, the Crimson had 275 yards rushing and averaged 5.1 yards per carry in the game. They had 14 first downs, and 90 yards in the air for a total of 365 offensive yards.

Hansen said the defense was also outstanding in the game. “They were really well prepared and it just showed on the field,” he said.

John Dubel, a senior, had five tackles and one interception and also contributed with solid punt returns during the game.

Hansen also said Jeremy Oligmueller played well, having a blocked kick and causing a fumble and a sack. Chris Dykhoff, a senior, also had a good game, causing a fumble and have a sack and six tackles.

“Our defense is really solid,” said Hansen. “They played real well. They limited Park Center to 51 yards passing and 80 yards rushing for 131 total yards, so our defense did an outstanding job of controlling that.”

The Crimson take on Forest Lake in their homecoming game at 8 p.m. this week. Following their win Friday, the Crimson now have a 2-1 record.