The young Maple Grove football team passed a gut check Friday, Sept. 1, in its 28-27 overtime home win over Edina.
In a game that featured numerous big plays and momentum swings, the Crimson kept battling and stuck together to pull out a win on quarterback Ryan Koch's four-yard touchdown run and Jon Hicks' extra point kick in overtime.
"It was a very exciting game with lots of ups and downs," Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen said. "We did some things really well and some things that you want to correct. We competed really hard and kept our chins up, stayed posi-tive and got stronger as the game went on. That was really neat."
Maple Grove got off to a great start when junior tackle Justin Kokales blocked an Edina punt and sophomore linebacker Luke Greder picked up the ball and ran it back 29 yards for a touchdown. But Edina scored two straight touchdowns to go up 14-7 at halftime.
The Crimson then countered with one-yard touchdown runs by Hicks and Josh Throndson in the third and fourth quarters to go up 21-14. But Edina capitalized on a Maple Grove turnover in the fourth quarter and tied the game on a 64-yard touchdown bomb with 1:30 left.
That sent the game into overtime. Maple Grove won the toss and elected to defend. The Hornets needed only two plays to score a touchdown but missed the extra point. The Crimson tied the score 27-27 on Koch's third-down TD run and Hicks, who was 3-3 in extra point kicks in regulation, calmly split the upright to give Maple Grove the win.
"We are a young team and for them to go into a barn burner like this and to come out on top is neat," Hansen said. "I am so proud of them for sticking together."
In addition to kicking the winning point, Hicks also had 122 yards rushing to lead Maple Grove's 219-yard ground attack. Throndson added 68 yards rushing.
Ryan Koch completed six of 13 passes for 67 yards. Jake Johnson caught three passes for 57 yards and Brent Sorbel caught one pass for 10 yards. Defensive leaders were Luke Greder with 10 tackles, Andy Greder with eight tackles, Dennis Bilancia with seven tackles, Travis Iskierka with four tackles and one sack, Alex Colt with five tackles and Jesse Johnson with one interception.
The Crimson next visit Blaine Friday, Sept. 8.