In a classic state tournament game that featured hard-hitting, bone-crushing confrontations on every down, undersized Maple Grove relied on its standout defense and made enough offensive plays to edge Prior Lake 10-7 for a state quarterfinal victory at Minnetonka last Friday. It was Maple Grove’s first ever state tournament football win.

“I am very proud of the team. This is the first state tournament win in the program’s history. It’s very special for the players, our school and the community,” Crimson coach Matt Lombardi said.

The Crimson had to contend with a Lakers’ team that featured huge front lines and just as big running backs and linebackers. For much of the game, Prior Lake shut down Maple Grove’s vaunted rushing game. Lombardi expected rushing yards would be hard to come by on this night, so he called on sophomore quarterback Brad Davison to carry more of the offensive load. And Davison was up to the task.

Lombardi said he has all the confidence in the world in Davison, even though he is only a sophomore.

“He is a special player,” Lombardi said, adding that Davison is accustomed to the big stage as the point guard on the Crimson basketball team. “I am so happy that we will have him for a couple more years.”

Prior Lake, with the help of a questionable roughing the passer call, struck first on a five-yard touchdown run midway in the first quarter.

The Crimson responded right away as Davison guided them on a 60-yard scoring drive. Davison completed key passes to Kyle Anderson, Sam Franta and a 26-yard strike to Adam Brant on fourth down that got the ball to the 5. Two plays later Anderson powered in from two yards out and Tyler Knutson booted the extra point to tie the game at 7-7.

MR. ANDERSON

Anderson had a superb game playing both ways.

“It’s really fun to play both sides of the ball. It’s a little tiring sometimes but at the end there is nothing better than knowing that you have helped the team get a W,” he said.

Anderson had good reasons to be tired. He played fullback on offense and made three key catches for 50 yards and scored the Crimson’s only touchdown of the night.

“When you have two talented players like Clark Wieneke and Isaac Collins they were going to key on them,” Anderson explained why he was open for some of the big plays.

On defense, Anderson is an undersized defensive lineman battling the huge Prior Lake offensive lines and backs.

“Some of their backs are 210 and 225 and I am 205 and I am one of the bigger guys on our D,” Anderson said.

But as the Crimson D has proven throughout this season, size does not matter that much. Instead of getting worn out by a much bigger opponent, the Crimson defense picked up its intensity level after giving up the touchdown. Grant Hemze caused a fumble that Sam Franta recovered on the MG 30 late in the first half to keep the Lakers from scoring and the Crimson continued their dominance in the second half.

“Prior Lake lost one of their running backs in the second half and that hurt them but they have other good backs,” Lombardi said. “Our defense just got stronger as the game went on.  They had to deal with some calls that kept their drives going but they were just flying around.”

WINNING DRIVE

Maple Grove put together the game-winning drive late in the third quarter behind Davison. He hit Anderson for 17 yards, found Brant for 11, Collins for 8 and Brant for 22 to the PL 10. The drive stalled but Knutson calmly booted a 29-yard field goal right through the middle to give Maple Grove the 10-7 lead.

“We were trying to see what worked best,” Davison explained.

When the running game was shut down, Davison went to work and he was up to the challenge.

“Prior Lake has a great front and some good backers,” said Davison, who completed 12 of 19 passes for 167 yards. “I welcome the challenge. The O line gave me good protection and the guys made some good catches.”

A 10-7 lead was all the Crimson D needed as it overcame a questionable pass interference call and came up with an interception by Collins in the fourth quarter. The D got a big boost from the offense in the fourth quarter when the Crimson finally got their running game going and chewed up almost 6 minutes of the fourth quarter. Wieneke, who had been slowed by the Lakers for three quarters, exploded on that final drive for several big runs.

Asked if he had saved his best for the last drive, Wieneke said, no, and added a simple reason why he was able to run wild on that last drive.

“There were great holes,” said Wieneke, “They weren’t there earlier in the game. We made some adjustments at halftime and the guys up front did a great job.”

Wieneke, who broke Ethan Magstadt’s school single season rushing record in this game, said he was not thinking about last year’s quarterfinal loss against Roseville when he was injured and could not play in the fourth quarter.

“No I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said. “I just wanted to get more involved and help the team.”

WIENEKE RUNS WILD

That he did on that final drive. Wieneke darted, stutter-stepped and powered his way through the Prior Lake defense for most his game-high 72 yards and kept the chains moving. By the time Prior Lake finally stopped MG on downs at the PL 5, there were just 1:40 left on the game clock. Four incomplete passes later, the Crimson had picked up their first ever state tournament win.

“This is the first time Maple Grove has gotten into the second round of the state tournament. It’s an amazing feeling,” Wieneke said.

The Crimson won with a season-low 100 yards rushing. But with Davison passing well and Collins, Brant, Franta and Anderson making big catches, they scored enough to win.

Defensively, Hemze led with 13 total tackles and a forced fumble, while Christian Ujhelyi and Collins added 11 tackles and 10 tackles. Dom Thielen, Anderson, Kraig Urquhart, and Jack Dahl-Maglone battled up front while Collins, Brant and Franta were three pillars in the backfield (see related article).

The Crimson special team also played a key role. Punter Jebah Doe came through big time, including a clutch punt from deep in the end zone in the second half. Knutson kicked the game-winner with a 29 yard field-goal, Wieneke had two big returns on kickoff and punt, and the Crimson had great coverage on punts all night.

Next up, the Crimson take on three-time defending state champion Eden Prairie at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at Edina. The Eagles are the best in the state but Lombardi expects his team to go out and put up a good fight.

“I don’t think our kids will be intimidated by Eden Prairie,” Lombardi said. “We respect them. They have earned it with three consecutive state titles. They are the best in the state and they do things the right way.”