The Maple Grove High School football team's play against Park Center Friday, Sept. 22, was very much like the playing condition: sloppy.

Played under a steady rain and cold wind, the game featured strong defense by both teams. The difference was that the Pirates converted a crucial Maple Grove turnover into a touchdown and managed a key two-point conversion in the second half. The Crimson, struggling on offense, managed two touchdowns but failed on both point-after attempts.

"It was a very tough game," Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen said. "Park Center played a great game. Their kids played inspired and a good solid game all the way through. We just made some mistakes early in the game and it just snowballed and snowballed and we could not turn that snowball around. It was one thing after another."

The early mistake Hansen referred to happened on the Crimson's first possession when they fumbled the ball and the Pirates returned it for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

The Crimson tied the game on a 30-yard run by Jon Hicks but the kick failed. The score was tied 6-6 at halftime.

Park Center quickly regained the lead early in the second half when its running back broke off an 80-yard touchdown run. The Pirates went for two points and made it for a 14-6 lead.

The Crimson got close early in the fourth quarter on an 8-yard TD pass from Ryan Koch to Hicks. But the two-point attempt failed. Maple Grove still had an opportunity to win but was not able to sustain any drive. The Crimson ended the game on the Park Center 30-yard line.

"We would drive and we'd stall," Hansen said. "We felt confident going into the game but we got off to a bad start and it snowballed and we did a lot of uncharacteristic things. It was frustrating. Win or lose is one thing but we wanted to play a lot better than what we did. That's where the disappointment lies. We did not achieve the level we expected of ourselves."

Defensively, Andy and Luke Greeder had big nights. Andy had 10 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery and Luke had 14 tackles. Offensively, Hicks had 15 rushes for 111 yards and Josh Throndson was 11 for 39.

The Crimson will have to improve their play when they next visit conference co-leader Coon Rapids Friday, Sept. 29.