Connect with us

Minnesota

Good matchups abound in Minnesota high school football playoffs

Published

on

Good matchups abound in Minnesota high school football playoffs


For decades, the centerpiece on a football team has been the quarterback. The field for the state’s largest schools boasts one of the strongest fields of signal-callers in recent memory. Thursday’s quarterfinal between No. 1-ranked Maple Grove (10-0) and No. 3 Edina (8-2) boasts a pair of strong-armed, highly touted junior throwers in Edina’s Mason West and Maple Grove’s Kaden Harney. A similar matchup pits Lakeville North’s Riley Grossman and Anoka’s Peyton Podany. Two QBs who depend more on their legs than their arms square off when Minnetonka’s Caleb Francois takes on Blaine’s Sam Shaughnessy. And don’t overlook Shakopee and Mounds View. Shakopee wouldn’t have gotten this far without the skills of veer option QB Judah Forsberg, a smooth distributor, and Mounds View quarterback Jacob Sampson was the Offensive Player of the Year in the Metro East district.

Class 5A: Elk River’s vaunted Power-T vs. Monticello’s discipline

By now, everyone knows about Elk River’s power-T attack, a version of an old-school running game that relies on precision, technique and deft quarterbacking. The Elks have been up to their old tricks, putting up big rushing numbers and high scores thanks to a steady diet of explosive plays. Monticello is riding an eight-game win streak, a run including five shutouts by a stubborn defense. Keys for the Magic are discipline and attention to detail. Lose one or the other, even momentarily, and it can spell disaster against a team such as Elk River. And make no mistake, the Elks are not a gimmick. It’s not sleight-of-hand football. They run, block and tackle like other teams, but they do it in a manner that pressures defenses to play sound assignment football and react quickly. Monticello’s defense has risen to the occasion all season. Can the Magic do it again when it counts most?

Elk River’s Brecken Keoraj checks for pursuers on a touchdown run against Alexandria earlier this season. (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Class 4A: Holy Angels’ opportunism vs. Becker’s scoring defense.

Any chance Holy Angels has to beat No. 1-ranked Becker will involve the Stars throwing a wrinkle or two into their attack. Becker’s defense has been in shutdown mode all season. The Bulldogs have shut out three opponents (including Holy Angels 14-0 in Week 3), have held five other foes to single digits and have given up only 21 total points in the first three quarters. The most Becker has allowed in any game is 14, twice. Holy Angels will need to find a way to spring RB Emmitt Anderson and QB Damian Devine or let Devine, a Villanova recruit, take to the air to put up early points and pressure the Becker offense to respond. The Bulldogs haven’t been seriously tested since a 13-9 come-from-behind victory over Providence Academy in Week 2.

Advertisement

Class 3A: Pequot Lakes’ offensive line vs. Annandale’s front seven

The Patriots’ high-powered offensive attack is spearheaded by their moving company up front, highlighted by three-year senior starters Jacob Lane, a 6-5, 290-pound tackle, and Dane Mudgett, a 5-10, 200-pound guard. The No. 5-ranked Patriots (10-0) are the second-highest-scoring team in the class, averaging 46.1 points per game, and haven’t been held under 35 points in a game since the season opener. Their top six rushers all average at least 9.5 yards per carry. Annandale’s defense yields 11.5 points per game and has allowed only two opponents to reach double figures in the past eight games. Senior Gavin Wang, a 6-7, 2750-pound defensive end who has committed to North Dakota State, isn’t easy to move, allowing the Cardinals’ outstanding linebacking corps to fly to the ball.

Class 2A: Jackson County Central’s defense vs. Norwood Young America’s defense

Don’t expect many points in this heavyweight battle of unbeatens. These are the two stingiest defenses in this classification. No. 3-ranked Jackson County Central (10-0) gives up 6.3 points per game while No. 4 Norwood Young America (11-0) allows 8.5 points per game. The play of rotating quarterbacks senior Jack Strickfaden and junior Kyson Evenski for Norwood Young America could determine the outcome.

Class 1A: Minneota vs. Lester Prairie

The unbeaten and top-ranked Vikings (10-0) are the two-time defending state champions. Minneota needed to score on its last four possessions to overcome a 14-point deficit and edge BOLD 34-28 for the Section 5 championship. Senior running back Ryan Meagher capped the comeback with a tiebreaking 4-yard touchdown run, his fourth touchdown of the game, with 59 seconds remaining. The senior running back is the Vikings’ workhorse, rushing for 1,418 yards on 145 carries and 30 touchdowns this season. It will be a daunting task to three-peat because four other unbeaten teams are in the field: No. 2 Springfield (10-0), No. 3 Mahnomen/Waubun (10-0), No. 4 Goodhue (11-0) and No. 5 Upsala/Swanville (10-0). Minneota faces Lester Prairie (7-3) on Friday.

Nine-Player: LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli defense vs. Camden Hungerholt

The Cardinals’ defensive unit has the daunting task of trying to contain the Renville County West senior quarterback. The 6-1, 190-pound Hungerholt has rushed for 2,391 yards on 173 carries with 31 touchdowns while completing 102 of 187 passes for 2,015 yards and 28 more scores. It’s easy to see why the fifth-ranked Jaguars (11-0) average 51.3 points per game.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Minnesota

Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild

Published

on

Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild


Last Season on Wild vs. Flames

Minnesota went 2-1-0 against Calgary.

Minnesota won the series-opening contest, 5-2, at Scotiabank Saddledome (12/5), earned a 3-2 shootout victory at Xcel Energy Center in the second matchup (12/14) and fell to the Flames, 3-1, in the series finale in St. Paul (1/2).

LW Matt Boldy led the Wild with four points (3-1=4). C Marco Rossi (1-2=3) had three points and LW Marcus Johansson (0-2=2) had two points. G Filip Gustavsson went 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .940 SV% in two starts. G Marc-Andre Fleury was 0-1-0, stopping 30-of-32 shots in the third meeting.

D MacKenzie Weeger led Calgary with four points (0-4=4). LW Yegor Sharangovich had three points (1-2=3). G Dan Vladar went 0-1-1 with a 3.47 GAA and a .896 SV% in two starts. G Jacob Markstrom won his lone start, stopping 28-of-29 shots faced. G Dustin Wolf entered in the second period of the first contest and stopped 11-of-13 shots faced for Calgary.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Minnesota

Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game

Published

on

Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game


Penn State is entering its penultimate game of the 2024 regular season, a final away matchup at Minnesota to face P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers. Minnesota (6-4) stands in the way of a potential 11-1 finish for the Nittany Lions. And while Fleck’s squad is unranked and a 12-point underdog, according to DraftKings, it has enough talent to cause fits for Penn State.

The Nittany Lions (9-1) have excelled this season when favored to win, avoiding letdowns against unranked opponents. A 33-30 overtime victory over USC is the closest call that James Franklin’s group has had. To maintain that success, Penn State will need some strong execution against a rested and well-prepared Minnesota squad.

Penn State vs. Minnesota predictions

Protecting the ball

Minnesota’s defense feasts on turnovers. While they’ve mostly come through 16 interceptions, the Golden Gophers also have forced seven fumbles, recovering four. Ball security, of course, is key in every game but will become especially important for Penn State when facing an opportunistic defense that tends to end up with the ball one way or another. 

Advertisement

“They do have some ball hawks in their secondary, but they make plays when the plays come to them,” Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. “I can’t just give them opportunities, because they’ll capitalize on it. And you know, a decent amount of their picks have actually been forced by their D-line, whether it’s like, a tipped pass that just falls into a linebacker or the quarterback getting hit and the ball … just finds a way to their hands.”

One mistake from Allar or Beau Pribula through the air could easily become a wasted possession for Penn State. With the Nittany Lions ranked fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, they can’t afford to give Minnesota’s offense extra scoring chances and find fuel for a potential home upset. The turnover battle could wind up telling the story of Saturday’s game, especially if it happens to swing in Minnesota’s favor.

“We’ve always preached about ball security, no matter what, who we’re going against, and it’s definitely a talking point for us every week, so we’re going to take great pride in that,” Allar said. “Obviously, with a team like this, the way they’re built, they’re similar to us in the fact that they want to control the ball and they want to force turnovers. So we’re just going to have to be disciplined and stick to our game plan.”

An efficient offensive ground game

Going back to its success in favorable matchups, Penn State is 66-3 against unranked teams since 2016, when factoring out the 2020 season. For as much criticism as Franklin and the Nittany Lions faced for losing to Ohio State a few weeks ago, and for losses against other top-5 opponents in past seasons, they almost always take care of business when they’re “supposed” to win. And one key in avoiding potential upsets is keeping the opposing team’s offense off the field.

Advertisement

Against unranked, but certainly capable opponents in West Virginia, USC, Wisconsin and Washington, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen racked up a combined 494 rushing yards on 99 attempts, nearly 5 yards per carry. As Penn State faces a similar opponent this week, controlling the clock and letting two of the top backs in the Big Ten go to work can help the Nittany Lions diminish any momentum Minnesota finds.

With Fleck’s secondary also being one of the conference’s best, Penn State would be wise to avoid risking any big-shot throws and attack the defense where it’s most vulnerable. The Golden Gophers allow 119.8 rushing yards per game — and in each of its conference losses to Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers, Minnesota allowed at least 109 rushing yards. 

“I would say where we need to get better at is just being able to strain a little bit more in the run game, and get more finishes and more movement against teams to create more running lanes for Nick [Singleton] and Kaytron [Allen],” offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh said Wednesday. “I feel like going into [practice] and going into this game, we’re going to have a really good plan to be able to combat [Minnesota’s takeaways].”

Andy Kotelnicki brings his Minnesota roots to Penn State’s offense

Make Darius Taylor’s day a rough one

Minnesota starting back Darius Taylor has three games this season with at least 120 rushing yards. Minnesota won each game, including a 25-17 victory over ranked Illinois. In the Golden Gophers’ three conference losses, Taylor managed just 32.7 rushing yards per game and ran for 3.0 yards per carry. 

Advertisement

Taylor adds some complexity as a strong receiving back (312 receiving yards), but when he’s running well out of the backfield, Minnesota’s offense has clicked much more. Quarterback Max Brosmer, completing 67.1 percent of his passes this season, is also at his best when he has a strong ground game to lean on, focusing on his efficiency and avoiding turnovers rather than having to do the heavy lifting offensively.

In 2022, Penn State successfully slowed Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in a blowout win. But when the Golden Gophers pulled off a 31-26 upset in 2019, the Nittany Lions’ defense let quarterback Tanner Morgan do whatever he wanted, racking up 339 yards and three touchdowns on 18-for-20 passing. That type of production from Brosmer would be disastrous this time around. But should the Nittany Lions handle Taylor and Minnesota’s run game well, containing the Golden Gophers’ senior quarterback should become simpler.

“[Brosmer] I think is playing really well. … In the last three or four games he’s done a really good job of protecting the football. Their running back, No. 1, Darius Taylor, is a big back and has been playing really well for the last two years,” Franklin said. “… We’re going to have to go and play well to find a way to get a win on the road here in the Big Ten.”

The Nittany Lions will take on Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.

More Penn State Football

Is Penn State’s defense getting overlooked this season?

Advertisement

For James Franklin, another pivotal moment at Minnesota

James Franklin weighs in on the Big Ten, SEC and the College Football Playoff

Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_    or Instagram @dmadersports





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Minnesota

In a Minnesota Hotel Room, Suitcases Full of Lululemon

Published

on

In a Minnesota Hotel Room, Suitcases Full of Lululemon


An East Coast couple arrested for alleged theft at a Lululemon store in Minnesota are now at the center of a probe into a wider $1 million crime spree in multiple states. The Star Tribune reports that 44-year-old Jadion Richards and 45-year-old Akwele Lawes-Richards of Danbury, Connecticut, were detained on Nov. 14 and charged a day later in Ramsey County with organized retail theft, tied to crimes that took place over the past two months. According to a criminal complaint, the couple had been stopped at a Lululemon store in Roseville on that Wednesday when they tried to exit the women’s athletic wear store and set off security alarms, per USA Today. Richards is said to have complained that he’d been racially profiled, and employees reportedly let the pair leave.

“The couple later commit[ed] fraudulent returns with the stolen items at different Lululemon stores,” police say, which led to their arrest at the Lululemon store in Woodbury, per the Kansas City Star. A retail fraud investigator later claimed that the two had been at the same store the day before, on Nov. 13, and lifted nearly four dozen items, with a combined value of nearly $5,000. They were alleged to have committed four other thefts that same day, including in Minneapolis. The couple denied involvement in any thefts, but with a search warrant issued after their arrest, police found 12 suitcases in their Marriott hotel room in Bloomington, a quarter of them stuffed with tagged Lululemon clothing, worth more than $50,000.

Advertisement

The investigator estimates the two stole about $1 million in total since September from Lululemon stores not only in Minnesota, but also in Colorado, Utah, New York, and their home state. Among the tactics the two are accused of using in their thefts, per the criminal complaint: having one of them distract staffers while the other shoved Lululemon products into whatever they were wearing. They also allegedly would have one of them set off the security alarm by trying to walk out with a relatively inexpensive item, while the other would sail out the door with more expensive items while store security was dealing with the first incident. Bail for Richards is set at $100,000, while Lawes-Richards’ is set at $30,000. Hearings for the two are scheduled for Dec. 16. (More Lululemon stories.)





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending