Maple Grove finished its regular season with a 41-7 win over Anoka Wednesday, Oct. 18.

The win gave the Crimson sole possession of second place in the Northwest Suburban Conference and a second seed in the Section 6 tournament. The Crimson were firing on all cylinders and powered to a win in their first-ever encounter against the Tornadoes. Maple Grove scored 12 points in the first quarter on a 12-yard touchdown run by Josh Throndson, and an 84-yard TD pass from Ryan Koch to Jake Johnson.

Anoka scored on a 39-yard pass to make it 12-7 early in the second quarter, but the Crimson responded with three scores. Koch scored on a 43-yard option run and threw to Johnson for two points. Koch then hooked up with Johnson for a 31-yard TD pass and Throndson scored on a one-yard TD plunge and Koch passed to Johnson for two points.

Koch passed for 230 yards and Johnson caught six passes for 208 yards in the first half. In the third quarter, Josh Hicks broke off a 70-yard TD run and kicked the point after to account for the final score.

The Crimson finished with 495 yards in total offense, 243 on the ground and 252 via the air.

"Anoka has a long tradition of good football so I was really proud of our kids," Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen said. "We really exploded. We had 345 yards in the first half. Our passing game and rushing game just, mixed really well and the kids executed so well. Koch and Johnson hooked up so well and our two backs ran so hard and blocked so well and our offensive line worked well together also."

Koch completed eight of 16 passes for 252 yards, Johnson caught six passes for 208 yards, Peter Dering and Throndson each caught one for 22. On the ground, Throndson had 11 rushes for 69 yards, Koch was four for 65 Defensively, the Crimson allowed only 186 total yards in the game, just 52 in the second half.

"They read so well and pursued so quick to the ball," Hansen said. "They just did a great job. They have just continued to shine and improve."

Defensive leaders were Andy Greeder with 14 tackles, Luke Greeder with 12 tackles, Ryan Schulz with seven tackles and Travis Iskierka with three tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.

Now a new season starts and the Crimson hope to continue their fine play in the section tournament.

The section seedings are: 1. Wayzata, 2. Maple Grove, 3. Armstrong, 4. Hopkins, 5. Buffalo, 6. Park Center, 7. Osseo.

"Wayzata has only one loss and they beat Cretin, so they must be good," Hansen said. "Our goal is to compete. Our conference is as good as any conference from top to bottom. If we can be competitive in every game in our conference we feel we have a chance against anybody outside our conference. That's how much respect we have in our conference."

The winner advances to the semifinal against Armstrong or Park Center. If the Crimson win they will be home in a 7 p.m. game Saturday, Oct. 28.