Maple Grove jumped to an early lead against host Blaine last Friday, never let up and ran away with a 50-0 win. Maple Grove is now 6-0.

“We got momentum early. We came out in the first quarter and scored 14 points and put them on their heels and we were able to keep it going throughout,” Maple Grove coach Matt Lombardi said. “It was a very windy day and we ran the ball very well. We moved the ball effectively and our defense was flying around so it was a good all-around game.”

Blaine had won four in a row but the Crimson took over from the get-go. Isaac Collins’ long open kickoff return put MG in good position, Clark Wieneke broke a big run and Collins scored the first TD with an 8-yard run at 10:30 of the first quarter.

MG defense held and the Crimson struck quickly. Wieneke took a hand-off on an interior run, showed some fancy moves to elude two tacklers, then found open space on the left and scored on an 80-yard TD run at 8:18.

The Crimson exploded for three touchdowns in the second quarter to break the game open. Quarterback Brad Davison threw a 10-yard TD pass to Adam Brant to make it 21-0.

Then the defense got into the scoring act. Brant and Sam Franta tackled a Bengal and caused a fumble and Chris Fondakowski picked it up and ran it 26 yards for a TD.

Wieneke then broke another long run, this time a 56-yarder, for his second TD of the game with 1:50 left in the half and MG had a 35-0 halftime lead.

The highlight of the second half came midway in the third quarter when senior Ben Shoults, the Crimson all-conference tackle filling in at fullback, scored his first varsity touchdown on a 2-yard plunge.

Lombardi, a Chicago native, was asked if he used Shoults the same way the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl years used William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry near the goal line.

“Some people mentioned that,” Lombardi said with a smile. “After our fullback Sam Renner hurt his knee in the Totino Grace game, every now and then we had to put Ben at fullback. Last Friday we thought it’d be fun to give him the ball and he got pretty excited to get the touchdown. I don’t know if he was more excited or the whole team. He is such a likeable kid that everybody is excited for him.”

Senior Shaun Harrell scored on a 4-yard TD to complete scoring.

The Crimson pounded out 473 yards on the ground. Wieneke had 17 carries for 199 yards and two touchdowns and Collins ran for 100 yards. Davison threw six passes and completed three.

DEFENSE

The Crimson held Blaine to 20 yards passing and 90 yards rushing and recorded their second straight shutout. It’s remarkable because the Crimson defense is not physically imposing but they make up for their lack of size with speed and teamwork.

“We are small, around 180 to 200 on the D line and our outside linebackers are about 150 pounds and we have a lot of little guys,” Lombardi said. “But all in all, they run to the football, they play fast, they get there and they make lots of plays. We just have people flying around making plays when they are called on. They are getting better and they are starting to understand how fun it is to play really, really good defense. I have been proud of how they have prepared. Tommy Becker, our coordinator, has done a really good job. It’s fun to watch them grow.”

The Crimson improve to 6-0 and may climb even higher than their No. 3 state rankings from last week following consecutive shutout wins over state powers Totino Grace and Blaine.

“I think our kids are starting to believe that every time they play they have a good chance to win,” Lombardi said.

The Crimson next host Osseo Friday, Oct. 10. The Orioles will be the fastest team Maple Grove has faced this season.

“They can fly. Year in and year out they always have a great amount of talent,” Lombardi said. “They always have kids who can run well and go up and get the ball. They are good athletes and well coached so they always present a good obstacle because they always can run so well. So with us we just want to be prepared, fly around and make adjustments and play physical and try to get them on their heels a little bit. We have faith in our running game. We feel we can move the ball on the ground against anybody. And our passing game is coming along so we feel we are a balanced club that can do both.”