The Maple Grove Crimson used an explosive offense, a disciplined run defense and the occasional big play to beat the Champlin Park Rebels 28-13 Friday, Oct. 6.

On a cold, blustery night when most spectators expected Maple Grove to pound the ball on the ground, the Crimson scored the game's first touchdown on a 36-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Koch to wide-out Jacob Johnson. The ensuing point-after attempt failed and the Crimson took a six-point lead in the first quarter.

Champlin Park's offense, led by swift-footed running back Riza Mahmoud, was unable to get any points out of its first drive. The Rebels relentlessly fed the ball to Mahmoud, a scary prospect for any defense, but Maple Grove was able to contain the back and force the Rebels to punt.

The Crimson marched the ball down the field on their next possession and John Hicks powered into the end zone from four yards out to give the Crimson a 12-0 lead early in the second quarter. Josh Throndson ran the two-point con-version in to extend the lead to 14-0.

On Champlin Park's next possession, all eyes were once again on Mahmoud as the Rebels again tried to open holes for their star back. Each time Rebel quarter-back Ryan Ulferts handed the ball to Mahmoud, a swarm of Crimson defenders was there to gang-tackle the back. Maple Grove got the ball back from the Rebels and drove to the Rebels' 10-yard-line. With an opportunity to take a commanding first-half lead, the Crimson offense sputtered, giving the Rebels the ball deep in their own territory. All eyes once again focused on Mahmoud.

"We did a pretty good job of keeping Mahmoud under wraps,” said Maple Grove head coach Craig Hansen. "Except for the big run."

The big run came late in the second quarter when Mahmoud took the ball and ran square into a Crimson defender. After breaking that tackle, Mahmoud spun past another would-be tackler and into the open. He then streaked 73 yards down the sideline and into the end zone.

"He's just so fast that if he gets vertical, or up field, he's gone," said Hansen. "When a player can outrun Jacob (Johnson) you know he's fast. Jacob had a chance to get him but Mahmoud just turned on the burners."

The first half ended with Maple Grove leading Champlin Park 14-7. Maple Grove opened the second half the way it opened the first, with a few running plays up the middle and then a big play from Johnson. Koch rolled to the right and, with a defender square in his face, found the speedy Johnson open 10 yards down the sideline. Johnson took the pass and sprinted 53 yards into the end zone. After Hicks blasted into the end zone to convert the two-point attempt, Maple Grove led 22-7.

Champlin Park spent the rest of the second half trying, to no avail, to break Mahmoud for another big run. Maple Grove's defense was fixated on Mahmoud and he couldn't get free for more than a 15-yard sweep.

It looked as if the Crimson would roll easily to their fourth win until the Rebels did something unexpected: quarterback Ryan Ulferts hit tight end Kyle Roessler for a 27-yard gainer down the left sideline. Roessler took the ball to the Maple Grove 18 where Mahmoud took over and eventu-ally scored from four yards out,

Jacob Johnson (19) breaks a Champlin Park tackle and goes in for a touchdown Friday, Oct. 6. .Johnson scored the game's first touchdown on a 36-yard pass.

putting the Rebels right back in the game. The extra point kick was no good, making the score Maple Grove 22, Champlin Park 13 early in the fourth quarter.

The Crimson tried to control the ball on their next possession, but wound up punting it away. Champlin Park, having little luck breaking Mahmoud for a big play, pitched the ball to Mahmoud, who then passed to Quantell Fonville for a nice 40-yard gain. Unfortunately for the Rebels, that would be the end of their offense for the evening.

Unable to get any points out of the drive, the Rebels gave the ball back to the Crimson, who were content to run some time off the clock and then punt. When the Rebels got the ball back with a little over two minutes to play, they labored the ball down to the Crimson 20-yard line, but that's as far as they got.

On a fourth-and-five from the Crimson 20, Justin Kokales intercepted a Rebel pass and sprinted 80 yards into the end zone to seal the game for Maple Grove. Despite the extra attention the Crimson gave him, Mahmoud, who was featured in the current Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd section, still finished with 216 yards on 26 carries.

Senior defensive tackle Kris Johnson had what Hansen called his best night. He had six tackles, four for losses, caused a fumble and batted down the pass that was intercepted by Kokales. End Travis Iskierka had a team-high 11 tackles, Kokales and safety Ryan Schultz each added six tackles and senior linebacker Andy Greeder had eight tackles and one fumble recovery.

Offensively, the Crimson had another outstanding night offensively. Led by the fine play-calling of Koch, they executed Hansen's game plan to perfection, picking up 15 first downs and chewing up 360 yards.

"We wanted to control the ball, eat up the clock and keep Riza off the field," Hansen said. "We really piled up the first downs. Ryan just did a great job. They changed things up on defense and Ryan Koch continued to read the defenses and get us into the right places and the rest of the unit responded very well."

Koch completed five of 13 passes for 147 yards. Johnson caught four passes for 123 yards and Hicks had one reception for 24 yards. Hicks also led the ground game with 106 yards on 24 rushes and Josh Throndson picked up 74 yards on 14 carries.

The Crimson next visit Elk River Friday, Oct. 13.