by Tim Kolehmainen
The BREAKDOWN
(posted 10/08/2008)
The Breakdown takes its weekly look at the top games in each class throughout the state. Here comes week 7, and the final push to the regular season. In most places, this is the last regular season Friday night under the lights.
Rosemount proved it was for real again last week, routing ranked Lakeville North, 35-7, behind four touchdown passes and a touchdown run from quarterback Chase Vogler. He’s the clear catalyst for the Irish offense, leading them in passing (712 yards, 13 TDs and only 4 interceptions) and rushing (259 yards and 5 TDs) this season. His favorite target, Zachary Vraa, has caught 26 passes for 441 yards and 8 TDs. No other player has even double-digit receptions.
Apple Valley started off hot this season, winning its first three games and surging into the top-10 rankings, but has fallen on hard times since, dropping its last three. Give the Eagles some due, however, as those three opponents were Wayzata, Lakeville North and Lakeville South (a 28-8 defeat last Friday night in Lakeville). Varmah Sonie is a do-it-all player for Apple Valley, leading them in receptions and among the leaders in rushing.
Rogers has seen its contenders for the Mississippi 8 Conference crown knock each other off in recent weeks. Now the Royals must avoid that same fate when they host Becker.
Last Friday night, the Royals routed Monticello, 40-0, as Josh Carey rushed 11 times for 184 yards and scored two touchdowns. Carey (72-576-8) and Ryan Heyer (78-539-7) are a great one-two punch at running back.
The Bulldogs were flying high after beating defending state champion Totino-Grace in Week 4, but then fell to Buffalo the next Friday night. They recovered to edge Cambridge-Isanti last week, 14-7, on two scoring runs from Jake Gibbons. Sophomore quarterback Johnny Benson has had an up-and-down season, throwing for 760 yards and 9 TDs, but also being picked off 9 times. Gibbons is the designated scorer, as he has rushed for 6 TDs and caught 5 TD passes.
Kasson-Mantorville makes its second straight appearance in the Class AAA game of the week – easy to do when you rout previously unbeaten Rochester Lourdes, 40-21, and then have to follow it up with a trip to Stewartville. Lourdes had only allowed 14 points all season to that point, but had no answer for the KoMets offense. Junior running back Cameron Ruehmann rushed for 203 yards and 3 TDs.
Stewartville lost to Lourdes, 31-0, back in Week 3, but has won its other five games and is approaching the state rankings – something they’re sure to crack with a victory this week. The Tigers beat Cannon Falls, 24-7, on their homecoming last Friday night. Junior quarterback Steve Jezeski (12-of-18, 197 yards, 1 TD) and senior back Bryan Schroeder (10-99) led the way on offense. The Tigers’ defense allowed just 109 total yards.
Whew, this ought to be a test for the ninth-ranked Cardinals of Luverne. Expected to be one of the top teams in Class AA, they play host to unbeaten Marshall, a team two classes above them. So what to expect? Well, these two teams also met last year, with Luverne winning 32-7, despite trailing 7-6 at halftime.
But on to this season.
Marshall routed Worthington, 43-0, on the Tigers homecoming last Friday night. Trey Welch (9-86-2) and Andrew Thomas (9-53-2) each scored two rushing touchdowns, as Marshall piled up 289 yards of rushing and scored five times on the ground.
Luverne was unbeaten until losing to a team that isn’t even in the state, Harrisburg (S.D.), 28-14.
Unless I’m mistaken, this is the only game in the state pitting two unbeaten teams against each other this Friday night – and not many of you may have heard of it. In fact, not much is known about these teams outside of their own areas.
Cook County surged into the No. 1 ranking and has remained there much of the season. They rolled over visiting Carlton, 35-0, last Friday night for their third shutout on the season. Quarterback Miles Drake leads the Vikings’ offense.
Chisholm is a newcomer to the top-10 after winning its first six games this year. The Bluestreaks zipped past host Ely, 26-7, last Friday night.
AlBrook also cracked the rankings for the first time this season, edging Mt. Iron-Buhl, 7-6, to continue its unbeaten season. The Falcons haven’t allowed more than eight points in a game all season and have given up just 20 total points in six games, including three shutouts. In the one-point victory over MIB, Mike Anderson ran a punt back 70 yards for AlBrook’s only score, while senior linebacker Alex Bober made 20 tackles.
And just who is this Orr club? The Braves have only lost one game, a defeat at second-ranked Littlefork-Big Falls back in Week 4. Otherwise they’ve battled through some tough games, but managed to win them all. Last week, the Braves nipped Babbitt-Embarrass, 28-20, behind two rushing touchdowns from Dylan Mankus.
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