by Tim Kolehmainen
The BREAKDOWN
(posted 9/5/2008)
Photos of the games are available at http://photo21.dotphoto.com
MOORHEAD – Any time the Moorhead defense needed a stop Friday night, coach Rick Eidsness revved them up with a bellowing, “Get off the field!”
His defense did just that.
After failing to slow down the Fergus Falls offense in their season opener last weekend, the Spuds’ defense came up with a big effort to beat visiting Alexandria, 17-7. The Cardinals finished with just 184 yards of total offense.
“Number one, stopping the run was huge because Fergus was pretty much able to run at will against us last week,” said Eidsness. “Getting that confidence that we can get off the field on third down, that’s what we’re looking for.”
Meanwhile Moorhead (1-1) banged away at the Cardinals (0-2) all game long with a two-pronged attack. Both Spuds’ senior running backs, Trent Johnson and Jason Strand, rushed for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown.
 The 5-foot-6, 165-pound Johnson used his speed to net 132 yards on 15 carries. He opened the scoring on Moorhead’s second play from scrimmage, blazing 67 yards down the sideline to outrun the Alexandria defense.
“We really needed to come out fast,” admitted junior quarterback Luke Gotta. “Trent hit that hole and we knew he was gone.”
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Strand bulled his way to 110 yards on 19 carries. He closed out the scoring with a 1-yard plunge in the final minute.
“There’s nothing like a win. When you lose, you’re down in the dumps and when you win, you’re flying high,” laughed Eidsness. “When you win, you gain confidence. When you can trust your teammate to do their job – and they did it today – you just get better and better.”
After Johnson’s touchdown sprint put Moorhead up 7-0, Alexandria tied the game in the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from junior quarterback Colin Erickson to senior Connor Illies. Erickson floated a pass to the double-covered Illies, who out-jumped them both to pull in the score.
But that was all the offense the Cardinals could muster.
 “Our defense just completely stopped them,” said Moorhead junior defensive tackle Mark Wychor. “It was awesome.”
Erickson (4-of-11, 65 yards) and junior running back Matt Peterson (25 carries, 68 yards) led the way for Alexandria. New Cardinals’ coach Mike Empting felt he had strong skill position players, but with only one returning offensive lineman, it might be a rough start.
The Cardinals have now scored just seven points in their last six quarters of football. After leading Sauk Rapids-Rice at halftime of the opener, 21-14, Alexandria has been outscored 31-7.
“It might take some time to get those kids some confidence and some experience,” admitted Empting. “We were eager to get back and get to this (game). Now we’ll have to see.” |
