Wayzata better not start celebrating the Section 6 football championship trophy yet, not after the way Maple Grove dismantled Robbinsdale Armstrong team 31-13 in the semifinals Saturday, Oct. 28.

The Crimson played what their coach Craig Hansen called the finest game of the season and manhandled the talented and explosive Falcons.

"We played a complete game," Hansen said. "We played one of our best games on offense, defense and special team for the entire game."

The Crimson, coming off a tough game against Osseo Tuesday, Oct. 24, jumped to a 13-0 first quarter lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Josh Throndson and a 4-yard TD pass from Ryan Koch to Jake Johnson. Armstrong cut the lead to 13-7 on a 9-yard TD run but the Koch-Johnson connection hooked up for a 20-yard TD strike to give Maple Grove a 19-7 halftime lead.

"We came out strong from the start," Hansen said. "We were really sharp in the first half. We didn't have any penalties or turnovers and played solid defense."

After a scoreless third quarter, the Crimson put it away when Koch hit Throndson with a swing pass that Throndson turned into a 63-yard touchdown play. Throndson ended his biggest night of the season with a 23-yard TD run late in the game.

Throndson finished with 101 yards on 16 carries and had the 63-yard touchdown reception. Koch completed eight of 16 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson had five receptions for 83 yards and Brent Sorbel had one catch for 12 yards. The Crimson finished with 327 yards in total offense.

"Our offensive line did a great job," Hansen said. "Led by Paul Jay, Chad Blalock, Brian Rebhorn, Erik Brost and Justin Radd, they played a greA game and that was the key to our offense."

Defensively, the Crimson held the Falcons to 53 yards passing and 91 yards rushing. Andy Greeder led the way with 13 tackles, one sack and. one interception, Luke Greeder followed with 12 tackles and half a sack. The front four of Kris Johnson, Justin Kokales, Travis Iskierka and Alex Colt dominated the trenches and the backfield defense of the Johnson brothers and Ryan Shultz was also outstanding.

The Crimson now takes on the No. 1-seeded Wayzata. The Trojans are the heavy favorites but after a tough year of competing in the Northwest Suburban Conference and a convincing win over Armstrong, Hansen knows his team can win. "Wayzata is a big challenge," Hansen said. "They have two well-known backs and is a big-play team. We will definitely need a great all-around effort to beat them."