After giving up more than 400 yards and six touchdowns in a loss to Blaine the previous week, the Maple Grove defense rebounded in the Crimson's 33-7 win at Park Center last Friday.
The Maple Grove defense did not allow any points - Park Center's only touchdown came on a punt return — and got stronger as the game went on. For the game, Park Center had 131 yards in total offense. In the second half, the Pirates managed just three yards rushing and 12 yards passing.
"The defense rebounded in a great way," said Maple Grove coach Craig Hansen. "Last week was tough. Blaine was a good team but we also did not play well, did not execute and did not tackle. But we came back and played a great game."
Senior linebacker Jeff Jarvis and junior linebacker Brent Opitz led the way with nine tackles each and Jarvis also caused a fumble. Senior linebacker Todd Frykman added five tackles and a fumble recovery and senior end Paul Joelson had two tackles for a loss and two sacks.
After a slow start, Maple Grove's potent offense continued to fire on all cylinders. Again, it was sparked by the junior passing combo of quarterback Mitch Brecke and Greg Martin. The two hooked up for an 80-yard touchdown play in the first quarter and the Pirates could not stop them. Brecke completed 12 of 19 passes for 279 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Martin caught another 43-yard touchdown pass and had seven receptions for 205 yards. Senior wide out Josh Laurent had two catches for 53 yards and Ben Holland and Bobby Usset each had one catch.
Martin now leads the conference and is second in the metro area in receptions with 38 catches for 916 yards and eight touchdowns. Brecke is second in the conference in passing with 57 completions out of 111 attempts for 1,107 yards, 15 touchdowns and only five interceptions.
The Crimson also had 160 game yards in rushing, giving them 439 yards in total offense. Junior Ryan Holland led the way with 81 yards on 15 runs and senior Ryan Iskierka had 64 yards on 16 tries.
"The offense sputtered a bit in the first quarter but they settled down and had another great night," Hansen said. "We executed very well in our passing and running and the line blocked very well."
The Crimson will end the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 15, against Anoka. They will open section playoffs Tuesday, Oct. 21. Armstrong and Wayzata are expected to be the top two seeds and the Crimson, 3-3 in the conference and 4-3 overall, will likely be the third seed and open with a home game.
After six games, the Crimson are ranked second in both offense and defense. Their defense allowed 839 rushing yards and 482 passing yards for an average of 262.2 yards per game. Their offense has gained 1,392 passing yards and 1,089 rushing yards for an average of 354.4 yards per carry. Blaine leads the league in both offense and defense.