Week 5: Games to watch

by Tim Kolehmainen
The BREAKDOWN
(posted 9/26/2008)

The Breakdown takes its weekly look at the top games in each class throughout the state. Here comes week 5 with some great match-ups that will determine favorites in several conferences around the state.

Class AAAAA: No. 6 Rosemount (4-0) at No. 7 Hopkins (3-1), 7 p.m.
This is Rosemount’s chance to show it truly is for real this fall, a road game at powerful Hopkins. The Irish have rolled since opening the season with a 17-14 squeaker at Lakeville South. In the past three games, they’ve outscored their opponents by a combined 107-27, including a 42-7 throttling of Chaska last week. Quarterback Chase Vogler is one of the state’s best and has formed quite a combination with receiver Zachary Vraa. The defense, led by junior linebacker Max Busher, has been stout. In a victory over Kennedy two weeks ago, Busher recorded an amazing 20 tackles.
Hopkins continued its offensive roll despite missing quarterback Sean Borman, scoring a 40-2 victory over Minneapolis Henry last Friday. The Royals scored all 40 points in the first half before pulling back on the reins. Terrell Sinkfield scored three touchdowns before the half and now has six rushing scores on the year. The receiving combo of Montez Wilkerson (14-489-6) and Marcus Williams (11-278-5) still soared with Charlie Hacker under center.

Class AAAA: No. 4 Duluth East (4-0) vs. Duluth Central (2-1) at PSS, 5:15 p.m.
It’s the battle for Duluth between rivals East and Central in the early game at Duluth’s Public Schools Stadium.
The Greyhounds are likely a big favorite in this one after opening their season with four straight impressive victories. Quarterback Skyler Murray has made the transition from fullback to quarterback with ease, as he leads the Northeastern corner of the state in rushing (66 carries for 729 yards and 8 TDs) and directs a high-powered East offense. Back Conner Kolodge has enjoyed his season, as well, rushing 40 times for 549 yards.
The Trojans suffered their first loss of the season last week, falling 25-14 to Detroit Lakes. They’ve won both a defensive battle (6-0 over Spooner, Wisc.) and a high-scoring shootout (42-20 over St. Paul Harding), so it’s tough to predict what Central team will show up tonight. Running back Quinton Witherspoon is a budding star, rushing for 178 yards in the loss to DL last Friday.

Class AAA: No. 2 Albany (4-0) at Milaca (3-1), 7 p.m.
The West Central gets interesting tonight when unbeaten Albany visits Milaca.
Albany hung on to its unbeaten mark with a narrow 8-7 victory against New London-Spicer last Friday night. The Huskies trailed 7-0 in the third quarter until senior running back Joey Blackmore scored on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Zach Posterick. Albany went for two and got it on a Lee Spohn run. Spohn was the leading rusher with 95 yards on 16 carries.
Milaca recovered from its first loss to rout Melrose, 49-7, last Friday night. Senior quarterback Alex Haas threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Myles Swenson got the scoring started with an 88-yard fumble return and later scored on an 11-yard pass.

Class AA: No. 7 AAA Warroad (4-0) at No. 8 Pelican Rapids (4-0), 7 p.m.
All right, we’re cheating a bit on this one as Warroad is a Class AAA school, but this is a great showdown between two unbeaten teams in the Heart O’Lakes Classic Conference up in the Northwestern part of the state. Even better, the Breakdown will be at this game, taking photographs and writing up a story on the programs later this weekend.
Warroad has been great in close games, winning three of its four games by three points, including back-to-back 17-14 victories over Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Breckenridge. The Warriors have yet to allow more than 15 points in any game this year, paced by linebackers Jack Phetsanghane and Nate Snyder and defensive lineman Brent Cole.
But the Warriors haven’t seen an offense the like Pelican Rapids will throw at them tonight. The Vikings have posted back-to-back 40-0 victories (over Staples-Motley and West Central Area) and haven’t scored fewer than 34 points in any game this year. Quarterback Tydan Storrusten had one of his lesser statistical games last Friday, but still passed for a touchdown, ran for one and returned one of his two interceptions for another score.

Class A: No. 4 Lake Park/Audubon (4-0) at No. 9 Warren-Alvarado-Oslo (4-0), 7 p.m.
The Raiders were expected to be a good team, but they’ve exceeded expectations with a perfect 4-0 start. Their offense has been rolling, scoring 131 points, and their defense has been stout, allowing only 21 points in four games. Last week, LPA shut out Cass Lake/Bena, 44-0. Bobby Lalonde led the way with 106 yards and 2 TDs on just 6 carries as the Raiders rolled up a 37-0 halftime lead.
After three straight shutouts to begin the season, the Ponies finally allowed their first points in a 14-13 victory over Badger/Greenbush-Middle River last Friday night. The Gators are a common opponent for both teams, as LPA beat them 25-8 back in week 2. WAO has been enjoying their dream season, as they won just one game all of last year.

9-man: No. 4 Verndale (4-0) at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (3-1), 7:00 p.m.
Verndale’s Mike Mahlen is now the state’s all-time leader in coaching victories after notching No. 308 last Friday in a 40-6 rout of Bertha-Hewitt. The Pirates rushed for 348 yards in the game, led by Matt Moenkedick (25-147-2). Amos Schmidt (5-105-2) and Zach Meidinger (79 yards and 2 TDs) also had big games on the ground. Moenkedick and Schmidt also led the defense with nine tackles each.
The Comets are creeping up the rankings after winning their third straight, a 28-0 shutout of Ashby. Junior quarterback Jared Schultz is the leader of the Hillcrest offense, which is averaging 32.3 points per game.