Maple Grove shutout Wayzata in the section 6 championship 13-0. 

Early in the second quarter Wayzata went three plays and punted and the Crimson launched a 65-yard touchdown drive. Two motion penalties put Maple Grove in a second and 16 hole on their 44, but sophomore quarterback Mitch Brecke hit senior. receiver Nick Brenckman who made a leaping catch on the sideline, shook off a defender and ran 41 yards before he was taken down on the Wayzata 15.

The Crimson offensive line of Tom Jacobs, Nick Thompson, Drew Getchell, Jon Brost, Don Nyvold and Brenckman dominated and paved the way for the touchdown. Junior fullback Eric Whinnery ran nine yards on first down and junior back Ryan Iskierka breezed into the end zone for a six-yard TD run on the next play. Shuba's kick made it 10-0.

If the Crimson were not enough of a headache, the Trojans were subjected to the noise the large number of Crimson thunder sticks generated. Every time the Crimson made a big play or needed a big defense stop, the Crimson fans would clang their sticks. The Trojans must have felt what the Twins felt like when they played the Anaheim Angels. The Crimson defense continued to dominate and Shuba intercepted a pass at the Wayzata 38

to set up his 41-yard field goal with 2:14 left in the first half. The Crimson completely dominated the first half. They had eight first downs, 103 yards rusing and 56 passing. The Trojans had two first downs and did not pass midfield.

A 13-0 lead looked pretty good with the way the Crimson defense was playing. Muro and senior middle linebacker Luke Greder, both three-year starters, anchored the defense.

"They look to us for leadership. Hopefully we are doing a good job," Muro said.

Muro and Greder have been superb on and off the field. Under their leadership, the young Crimson got better as the season went along. Up front, senior Mike Palmer joins Muro as the tackles, sophomore Paul Joelson and senior Max Berscheit man the ends. Greder is joined by seniors Lucas Vales, Brandon Barth and John Pal and junior Ted Leonard at linebackers. In the defensive backfield, Shuba joins seniors Ryan Schulz and Tim Felkner, who has stepped in for injured sophomore starter Chase Mudd.

The Trojans were forced to go to the air in the second half and drove deep inside Maple Grove territory three times. But the Crimson came up big each time. Leonard intercepted a lateral and Felkner batted away a fourth down pass to seal another shutout win.

“I won’t say we expected it, but it’s more of a goal.” Muro said of the shutout. “The coaches give us a game plan and we do our job every week. We don’t want the other to score. If they don’t score, they don’t win.”

Blaine, Champlin Park, Buffalo, and Wayzata did not score against Maple Grove and they did not win.

Muro and the Crimson hope to do it again this Friday when they host the Rebels who stunned No. 8 Blaine 12-7 last week. Maple Grove blanked the Rebels earlier in the season but Hansen said the Rebels have found themselves and are playing at their peak.

“It will be a huge challenge,” Hansen said. “Champlin Park is on a roll. They bring a different style than Blaine. They are wide open and have lots of weapons. It will be a challenge for us.”

The Crimson showed a balanced running attack. Brecke ran 11 times for 42 yards, Iskierka had 45 yards on 16 carries and Whinnery had 54 yards on 15 runs. Brecke completed four of 12 passes for 75 yards. Brenckman caught two passes for 49 yards and Greg Martin had one catch for 19 yards.