Maple Grove now ranked 3rd in state football

Maple Grove coach Matt Lombardi sounds very positive every time he talks about his offense.

“With our two backs and a young quarterback I have confidence in I look for good things from our offense,” Lombardi said following the Crimson’s big win at Wayzata two weeks ago.

Those two backs are senior Clark Wieneke and junior Isaac Collins and the young quarterback is Brad Davison. The trio did their things again last Friday when the Crimson overpowered Champlin Park 43-14 at home to improve to 4-0. Maple Grove is now ranked third in the state.

Wieneke had three touchdowns and 104 yards rushing, Collins added 144 yards rushing and fullback Kyle Anderson had two touchdowns. Davison again ran the offense effectively and kept the Rebels guessing with his roll-out passes.

The Rebels took an early lead on a touchdown pass but Maple Grove stormed back with a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive culminated by Wieneke’s 8-yard touchdown run at 3:54 of the first quarter.

The Crimson defense then came up with a big play when Grant Hemze forced a fumble that MG recovered on the Champlin Park 12. The Crimson cashed in and took the lead to stay on Anderson’s one-yard run with 2:44 left in the quarter.

Maple Grove continued to run the ball with authority in the second quarter and put together another drive that ended with Wieneke scoring from 10 yards out at 6:02 that increased the lead to 21-7.

But the Rebels made a game of it when they scored on another touchdown pass at 9:46 of the third quarter to make it 21-14. Maple Grove’s offense went back to work and Wieneke got his third score of the night on a 3-yard run at 4:30 to make it 28-14.

The Crimson put the game away in the fourth quarter when Anderson scored from six yards out and Lukas Burrington returned an interception 52 yards for the final score.

Burrington had two interceptions to lead the defense, which held CP to 60 yards rushing.

The Crimson finished with well over 300 yards rushing. While skilled backs such as Wieneke and Collins get all the inks, Lombardi was quick to point out the quality play of the offensive line, which came into the season on the green side.

“We have two guys back on the offensive line with Ben Shoults and Kayode Awosika and they are playing well,” Lombardi said. “Our three new guys, MJ Dorn, Max Zwach and Logan Newell are all coming along well. Then you have Sam Renner playing well at fullback and Will Reul doing well at tight end. So it’s a new offensive line but they are getting better each week.”

With a talented backfield and a big and powerful offensive line, it will be difficult for opposing team to solve the Maple Grove offense. Totino Grace will give it a try when it will try to ruin Maple Grove’s homecoming Friday, Sept. 26.