MSHSL Stiffens Penalties Effective Immediately

In the wake of the hockey injuries to Jack Jablonski and Jenna Privette, the Minnesota State High School League has made changes effective immediately in an effort to make the sport safer. Here are some notes from the release sent out by the MSHSL over the weekend:

The penalties for three infractions of the rules have been significantly increased in an effort to thwart players from making dangerous hits on the ice.

Checking from behind, which formerly called for a two-minute minor penalty plus a 10-minute misconduct penalty, will now become a five-minute major penalty plus a 10-minute misconduct penalty. The existing also states that any check from behind that is deemed “flagrant or causes the player to crash headfirst into the boards or goal frame” will continue be a game disqualification. The disqualified player cannot re-enter that game and cannot play in the next scheduled game either.

 Boarding, defined as a “check, cross-check, elbow, charge or trip” that sends an opponent “violently into the boards” now becomes an automatic major penalty — five minutes — instead of the option of either a two-minute minor penalty or a five-minute major penalty. The existing rule that also states that any boarding check that “causes the player to crash headfirst into the boards” may qualify for a game disqualification. The disqualified player cannot re-enter that game and cannot play in the next scheduled game either.

 Contact to the head also now becomes an automatic major penalty — five minutes — instead of the option of either a two-minute minor penalty or a five-minute major penalty. The rule states, “No player shall make contact with an opposing player’s head or neck area in any manner.” Officials still have the option of assessing a disqualification penalty if warranted, and in that case the disqualified player cannot re-enter that game and cannot play in the next scheduled game either.

The coaches need to accept the stiffer penalties and need to instruct their players the proper and legal ways of making contact with opponents. The officials need to make the calls and when the calls are made, they need to be supported by not only the coaches, but also by the players and the fans.

“Hockey is a great game, and when it is played the way it should be played, it should be a safe game,” said Craig Perry, League associate director who oversees hockey. “The advisory committee’s recommendations and our Board’s support of the action continue our efforts to protect the kids on the ice, efforts that have been in place for a number of years.

The full release can be found on www.mshsl.org .

Big Shakeup for Football in 2012

With the Prep Bowl champs crowned this past weekend, it’s never too early to look ahead to next year. And next year, the addition of Class 6A, aka the “Big School Class”,  is going to bring some big changes to the football landscape across Minnesota. The classes were realigned by school enrollment, but teams can also opt up into a bigger class if they wish. So 9-Man, Class A, and Class AA will remain relatively the same with a handful of teams moving up. St. Croix Lutheran is the only local team to stay put so we’ll start with them and work our way up.

CLASS AAA

The big changes start in Class AAA. The number of teams goes from 65 to 52. So that’s 13 less teams to compete with for a state title. The Crusaders section drops to seven so whoever gets the #1 seed gets a bye and an extra four days to rest up before their first playoff game. St. Croix Lutheran will lose a lot of talent next year, but they should be the early favorite to get back to state. Below is Section 4AAA for 2012 with this year’s records.

4AAA

Cannon Falls (4-5)
Columbia Heights (0-9)
Concordia Academy (6-4)
Minneapolis Edison (2-7 in AA)
Minneapolis Roosevelt (NA)
Minnehaha Academy (6-4)
Saint Croix Lutheran (14-0)

Notable teams leaving AAA: Holy Family, DeLaSalle, Zimmerman

CLASS AAAA

The number of teams stays basically the same, dropping from 51 to 49, but this class also sees major changes as teams shift up. South St. Paul remains as the only local school in AAAA as they slide over to section 4. With half of the section coming up from AAA, the road to state gets a lot easier for the Packers. And with no Cadets constantly standing in their way, a new rivalry with Hill-Murray looks to be in the works.

4AAAA

Hill-Murray (9-3)
New Life Academy (3-6 in AAA)
St. Paul Como Park (2-7 in AAA)
St. Paul Johnson (4-5 in AAA)
St. Paul Harding (5-4)
South St. Paul (10-2)

Notable teams leaving AAAA: Saint Thomas Academy, Mankato West, Rogers, Spring Lake Park, Bemidji

CLASS AAAAA

Saint Thomas Academy, Henry Sibley, and Simley all make the jump together and land in the same section. And although the Raider program is down, the rivalry with Hastings will be renewed. East Ridge finally gets away from Cretin-Derham Hall and looks to make their first section final appearance ever.  Overall, the number of teams in this class drops from 57 to 48 so one out of every six teams will make the state tournament.

5AAAAA

East Ridge (3-7)
Hastings (2-7)
Henry Sibley (1-8 in AAAA)
Saint Thomas Academy (9-1 in AAAA)
Simley (4-6 in AAAA)
Tartan (4-5)

Notable teams leaving AAAAA: Anoka, Blaine, Cretin-Derham Hall, Eden Prairie, Edina, Lakeville North, Lakeville South, Minnetonka, Mounds View, Osseo, Stillwater, Wayzata

CLASS AAAAAA

32 teams will make up the top class next year. Four sections of eight (Sections 3, 4, 5, and 6). First round will be as normal (#1 vs #8, #2 vs #7, etc). Second round will take the four winners and match them up cross-section. For example, highest seed from Section 3 will play the lowest seed from Section 4. Sections 5 and 6 will be paired up and the pairing will rotate every two years. The winners of the second round advance to the state tournament where they will be seeded #1-#4 and their opponents will be determined by random draw. The state tournament will play out as normal from there.

 

I’m not exactly sure what was the motivation for these changes. This makes seven total classes and means that, on average, one out of every 6.8 teams across Minnesota will make the state tournament. In the top class, one out of four will go. I think this is just too many teams getting to state. While making it will be great, there will be many schools who will get there by merely beating a mediocre team and then a good team. The real accomplishment now will be making it to the Metrodome.

I love the new section/state playoff formula for Class 6A since it means getting a better state tournament field and the state seedings should make the final four at the Dome a lot stronger. If it goes well, it would be great if they started doing this in more classes. But this also means that there will be no “big school” games on the first Tuesday of playoffs, more section finals will be watered down, and in the case of the top class, no section finals at all.

I know we just wrapped up the 2011 season, but it’s never too early to start discussing the controversy for 2012, right?

Crusaders Bring Title to West St. Paul

After over 7500 yards and 651 points scored throughout the season, it came down to the St. Croix defense to decide the Class AAA State Championship. With Eric Montgomery chasing Fairmont QB Ben Kain out of the pocket and forcing him to throw on the run, Matt Olson batted down Kain’s pass on a two point conversion to secure the 34-32 win for the Crusaders.

The game started out in a very unCrusaderlike fashion with St. Croix going 3 and out on their first possession and then fumbling the ball away to Fairmont on their second, which led to a Cardinal touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Things finally got back to normal for the Crusaders on their third possession as Wesley Tucker took the handoff 69 yards to pay dirt on the first play.

The fireworks continued early in the second quarter when Kain hooked up with Bryce Holm for the first time of the afternoon, good for a 50-yard score. Penalties plagued the Crusaders in the first half, and after back to back mistakes on their next possession, St. Croix was looking at 1st and 30 from their own 18. They decided to steer away from the veer and ran a reverse to Zach Tietz who rumbled 70 yards down to the Fairmont 12. Four plays later Olson scored and a successful two point conversion made it 14-14 and that’s where the score would stand at the half.

After forcing the Cardinals to a 3 and out to start the third, the Crusaders drive stalled and they were forced to punt. But a fumbled punt return gave St. Croix the ball back in Fairmont territory. Once again the Crusaders just needed one play as Jackson Goplen took a pitch and raced around the outside and down the sideline 29 yards for a score. That would be all of the scoring for the third quarter, but it would set the stage for a wild and crazy fourth.

Staring at a 4th and 25 from the Crusader 28, a scrambling Kain hit Holm for their second touchdown of the day and cut the lead to 22-20. The Cardinals got the ball back on a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and this time they brought out the quick strike offense as Kain found Holm in the end zone again and Fairmont regained the lead 26-22.

The Crusaders were once again fairly uncharacteristic of themselves as their next drive grinded out over 5 minutes but left them staring at a 4th and 7 at the Fairmont 28. Carl Lemke and the Crusader coaching staff decided to pull out something new and saw their offense pull off what could have been the play of the season for St. Croix. Olson took the snap, faked a handoff up the gut to Tucker, and then faked the reverse to Tietz before tucking the ball to his gut and turning his back the opposite way of the play. The entire Fairmont defense went at Tietz as Olson turned back around and chucked the ball downfield to a wide open Goplen to put St. Croix back on top.

But it took Fairmont all of three plays to get on the doorstep of the end zone. Just when it looked like the Cardinals were going to score again, a bad snap shot straight up and Eric Montgomery busted through the offensive line to snag it out of mid-air.

The Crusaders had the lead, and the ball, with 2:28 on the clock. All they had left to do was pick up a couple of first downs and run out the clock, but ironically, the powerful offense almost sunk St. Croix’s title chances. Tucker exploded through the line on the first play and rumbled 40 yards into Fairmont territory. Two plays later Goplen found daylight of his own and raced 36 yards to score the apparent clincher. The problem was, it wasn’t, and the Crusaders were stuffed on the 2-pt conversion. That put the score 34-26 and the kickoff put the ball in Kain’s hands with 1:39 on the clock and only 59 yards to go.

16 yard completion. 4 yard completion. 15 yard run. 18 yard completion. 1:39 was plenty of time for Fairmont as Kain finished the quick drive to Holm in the end zone for the 4th time. 34-32, two point conversion pending with 0:08 left.

Kain took the snap as Eric Montgomery blew up the left side of the offensive line. Kain rolled to his right as his receivers broke pattern in the end zone and rolled back with him. He floated the ball towards Holm who was surrounded by a sea of red. But Matt Olson was there to knock the ball down to preserve the lead.

A failed onside kick and one final kneel down secured the Class AAA Championship for the Crusaders. They finished 14-0. They scored over 650 points. They racked up over 7500 yards in offense. But in the end, it was the defense that brought St. Croix Lutheran’s first state title to West St. Paul.

Town Square Television will be replaying KSTC-45′s coverage of the St. Croix Lutheran vs. Fairmont title game next Tuesday, December 6th, at 7:00 on Channel 14.

Live Games Reach Overseas

On August 25th Town Square Television went live on Game of the Week for the first time in over a decade. It was a girls soccer match between Simley and South St. Paul to kick off the 2011 fall sports season.

We got a paltry 11 hits that day.

Little did we know, our LIVE coverage would end up reaching places we never expected. Two months later we were back at Ettinger Field with a trip to the state tournament on the line for the Packers, and viewers were watching. They were watching all across the country, and all across the world…..

 

Hey Toby,

My name is Adam Sethre.  I believe you spoke with my dad  the other night at the South St Paul vs New Life Academy girls soccer game.  My sister is Alicia, the starting goalie for the Packers.  I am actually in the Navy and have been for almost the past 5 years.  I did a service project with yall when I was in 8th grade.  I was hooked up by a guy whose last name was Conlon.  I forget his first name, but when my dad mentioned your name I said to myself, hey I know that guy. I’m currently on deployment supporting operation New Dawn and operation Enduring Freedom, far away from the states, and I was able to watch that soccer game via internet yesterday night.  Just wanted to say I appreciate what you do, and for letting me watch my sisters soccer game 9 time zones away.  Thanks again, and have a great day!!!!

 ABF3 SETHRE, ADAM J
V-4 DIVISON FLIGHT DECK REAPIR SUP
USS GEORGE H. W BUSH (CVN 77)

SSP and SCL One Game From the Dome

One more round of playoffs, one more team eliminated. For the first time in five years, Town Square Television gets two teams to the state tournament.

3AAAA:

#3 South St. Paul 32 @ #1 Saint Thomas Academy 31 in Overtime

One of the best games I’ve seen in 10+ years of covering high school football. The Packers were down 10-24 midway through the 4th quarter. They drove to score a touchdown, missed a PAT, got an onside kick, converted a 4th and 18, punched in another touchdown, converted the 2-point conversion, blocked a FG to force overtime, gave up seven points, scored a touchdown, and then converted another 2-point conversion to go to state.

Did you follow all of that?

4AAA:

#2 St. Anthony 0 @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran 46

I’m not sure what’s more impressive: The 46 point win, or the 0 points allowed to the #2 seed in the section final. The 0 points allowed is what leads me to believe that the Crusaders are going to win a state championship this year. St. Croix Lutheran wins big again as Wesley Tucker rushes for four touchdowns.

State Quarterfinal Preview:

2AAAA Mankato West {10-0) vs 3AAAA South St. Paul (10-1)
These might be the two best teams in the state tournament in Class AAAA, but this is a tough matchup for the Packers. Future Gopher QB Philip Nelson will go after the SSP secondary all night as the Packers are big ‘dogs in this one.

1AAA Plainview-Elgin-Millville (11-0) vs 4AAA St. Croix Lutheran (11-0)
It’s #1 vs #2 as the only two remaining unbeatens in AAA square off in the quarters. Why MSHSL, Why? I’ve got the Crusaders winning by two touchdowns.

Blazers Sweep 4AA To Get Back To State

Tri-Metro Conference? Check.

#1 Seed for 4AA Tournament? Check.

Section playoff sweep? Check.

State Championship?

For the second year in a row the Visitation Blazers ran the table in the Tri-Metro Conference and have returned to take another crack at the state tournament. The Blazers are now 25-0 against conference foes over the past two seasons, and an incredible 75-3 in games in those matches. A win over St. Croix Lutheran on Thursday night capped a perfect 9 game sweep of the Section 4AA tournament to get Visitation back to the XCel Energy Center for the third time in five years.

In 2007 the Blazers were swept by both St. Cloud Cathedral and Jordan.

Last year, Visitation drew the #1 seed Hutchinson Tigers and were swept to the consolation round. They would beat Esko and then lose to Marshall to claim 6th at state.

This year, they hope to go even further. So far the Blazers are the only team to punch their ticket to state in Class AA. The rest of the field will be determined on Saturday. Depending how the other section finals play out, Visitation could end up being one of the four seeded teams. The Blazers will have their hands full though as all of the teams that reach the X are quality.

Working in the Blazers favor though is big game experience from a variety of classes: Seniors Katie Suplee and Samantha Dumler, Juniors Kayla Adducci and Anne Debertin, and Sophomores Elsa Ayotte and Mary Mullen. They all played big minutes in the state tournament last year and shouldn’t have to worry about the jitters this time around.

The brackets will be announced Sunday but the Blazers should be able to make a legitimate run at a state title. Town Square Television will be on hand for the quarterfinals for Game of the Week.

Packers Stun Cadets in Section Final

Trailing 10-24 midway through the 4th quarter, the Packers started a comeback that will be remembered in South St. Paul for a long time.

Before we get to that though, let’s rewind 364 days to the 2010 3AAAA Section Final. The 10-0 Packers travelled to Mendota Heights to take on #1 ranked, 9-0 Saint Thomas Academy. The Cadets returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and like a pin, popped the Packer balloon. South St. Paul never recovered and were blown out 35-7 as Saint Thomas Academy went to state for the 3rd year in a row.

Now back to tonight. Hootie Hubbell got the Cadets on the scoreboard first on their opening possession and then Kevin Gray added a TD after Packer QB Harrison Rund fumbled a snap on a 4th down punt attempt at the 2 yard line. A field goal by Wyatt Schmidt put the STA lead at 17-0 and the Packer crowd looked eerily similar to 2010.

But this time, the Packers didn’t roll over. South St. Paul got a Kevin Ward field goal and a Harrison Rund score on their next two possessions to make it 17-10 at the half.

Saint Thomas Academy came out of the locker room and promptly marched down the field and capped their drive with a touchdown pass from John Gould to Will Johnson. This is where it got interesting.

A second botched punt started the Cadets in the SSP red zone for the third time of the game. A few plays later STA was about to ice the game until the Packer defense stripped the ball at the 1-yard line and got the recovery. However a long Packer drive resulted in a Cadet interception when SSP was on the doorstep of the end zone in the 4th quarter. After another SSP defensive stop, the Packers would begin their comeback for the ages.

Down 10-24 and staring at a 4th and 18, the Packers picked up the first down and would eventually score on a short Rund run. A failed extra point made it 24-16 with about 3:30 left. Despite having all three time outs, the Packers still went for, and got, the onside kick. They used a combination of runs and passes to move the ball down the field until Sam Sura capped the drive with a TD plunge with under a minute to play. And then Sura did it again on the 2-point conversion to make it 24-24 and put the Packer crowd in a frenzy.

Saint Thomas Academy had no problem chipping away in the final 50 seconds to set themselves up for a game winning, 33-yard field goal with 4 seconds left on the clock. With everyone in Gerry Brown Stadium on their feet, Wyatt Schmidt set up to attempt to win the section for STA. But SSP senior Josh Trifunov had other plans as he leapt up and blocked the kick to send the game into overtime.

The Packers won the toss and elected to play defense first. But it took STA all of two plays to score and it was 31-24. But the Packers wasted no time and Rund scampered in from ten yards out to cut it to 30-31. South St. Paul got the “2″ signal from the sideline from head coach Chad Sexauer. The season for both of these Classic Suburban powers would come down to one play.

Rund took the snap, turned, and handed the ball to Sura as the Packer line surged forward. Sura flopped down at the goal line and there was a brief moment of silence until the officials made their call. For the first time in seven years, the Packers had defeated Saint Thomas Academy. And for the first time in seven years, the Packers were going back to state.

Cadet players fell dejected to the turf as Packer fans stormed the field.

In a battle of two heavyweights, the Packers were left standing at the end. For SSP seniors, who went 0-9 their freshmen year, this win has got to mean a lot. I can’t remember a bigger football game between two local communities that ended up being this good. Both are worthy of playing in the final four of state, but because of how the football playoffs are set up, some of the best teams in Minnesota won’t even reach the Metrodome. But regardless, hats off to both of these teams for an outstanding game.

The Packers just knocked off the #2 team in Class AAAA. Up next, #1 ranked Mankato West and future Gopher QB Philip Nelson.

Town Square Television will be in Chanhassen for the State Quarterfinals between the Scarlets and the Packers.

Semifinal Saturday is a Town Square 2-Step

On another successful round of playoffs that saw three of the four local football teams advance, Town Square Television had a long day on Super Saturday. We rolled into Richfield for the 1:00 South St. Paul/Holy Angels game at 10am and then headed over to West St. Paul for the St. Croix Lutheran semifinal at 7:00. Here’s how the semifinals shook out.

SECTION 3AAAA:

#4 Simley 6 @ #1 Saint Thomas Academy 42

After dropping 49 and rolling over St. Louis Park, the Spartans had to head over to Mendota Heights to take on one of the top teams in Class AAAA. The Cadets wasted no time and took advantage of some costly Simley turnovers. Nick Waldvogel rushed for two touchdowns and Danny McManus returned an interception 40 yards for a score to put the Cadets on top 21-0 after the first quarter. Paddy Clancy returned a punt 83 yards for a TD and STA got two more scores on the ground from Keegan Zimprich and Hootie Hubbell. Simley would avoid the shutout late and get one last touchdown for the year when Nick Wanzek hooked up with Cody Hazelett from 20 yards out. Simley finished the season at 4-6.

#3 South St. Paul 50 @ #2 Holy Angels 20

This game looked like one of the top semifinal games in the state on Saturday, until South St. Paul took over and changed that. Holy Angels QB Sam Keis led the Stars down the field to score on the opening possession, but it was all Packers from there. South St. Paul racked up points in a hurry over the next 4:00 minutes as they clicked all day on all three facets of the game. After a Sam Sura touchdown, the Packer defense came out on the field and took Keis down in the end zone for a safety. Reid Bjorkland took the ensuing punt 64 yards to the house and suddenly it was 16-7. Holy Angels responded with a score to cut the lead to two, but three more Sura touchdowns iced this one for the Packers. Harrison Rund added touchdown passes to Jack Pietruszewski and Steven Miller to get South St. Paul to the half-century mark. It was truly an impressive win as the Packers played nearly flawless football to advance to the section final with Saint Thomas Academy for the third straight year.

SECTION 4AAA:

#4 Minnehaha Academy 7 @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran 62

In the late game of the TST doubledip, the #1 team in all of Class AAA hosted the 6-3 Red Hawks. The Crusaders wasted no time as Jackson Goplen took a handoff 83 yards to pay dirt on the third play of the game. Goplen added touchdown runs of 45 and 3 yards on the next two possessions to put this one away early. Wesley Tucker got in the end zone twice, once from 71 yards, and Matt Olson had two nice scoring runs as well. Even backup QB David Ponath did his best Olson impression, zigging and zagging his way for a 30 yard score late. St. Croix has now scored 50+ points in five straight games, and have scored over 60 in both playoff contests. St. Anthony beat Concordia in the other semifinal to earn a second crack at the Crusaders.

Section Final Preview:

3AAAA:

#3 South St. Paul (9-1) @ #1 Saint Thomas Academy (9-0)
As great as the Packers looked on Saturday, the Cadets have owned this section over the past half decade. Until someone can prove otherwise, I like Saint Thomas Academy to get to state again. However, South St. Paul has proved that they are one of the best teams in Class AAAA and this should be an outstanding game.

4AAA:

#2 St. Anthony (8-2) @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran (10-0)
In Week 7, St. Croix rushed for over 650 yards and beat St. Anthony by 40. Get out of the way Huskies, the Crusaders have work to do at state.

Quarterfinals Done, 4 of 5 on to Semis

For the most part for the five football local teams, the quarterfinal round yesterday went very well. Even the #7 seed Warriors kept it close against Holy Angels.

SECTION 4AAA:

#8 SPA/MPA 12 @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran 60

No surprise here. The Crusaders started the playoffs with a blowout. Coach Carl Lemke was able to call off the dogs after the first quarter when St. Croix had already built up a 32-0 lead. Jackson Goplen had touchdown runs of 12, 20, and 86 yards. Matt Olson added a hat trick of TD passes as the Crusaders scored over 50 points for the fourth straight game to advance.

SECTION 3AAAA:

#1 Saint Thomas Academy – Bye

#6 Chaska 6 @ #3 South St. Paul 62

The loss to Mahtomedi in Week 7 seems to have lit a fire under the Packers. After the controversial game that may have cost South St. Paul the #1 seed, the Packers have come out the past two weeks to score 60+ points. The Packers got four first quarter touchdowns from Sam Sura and led 55-0 at the half. They certainly aren’t making any friends with the Hawks who they also knocked out of the playoffs last year with a 54-6 win.

#5 St. Louis Park 13 @ #4 Simley 49

The Orioles struck first in this one but Simley responded by rattling off 49 unanswered points to win their third straight. I haven’t seen Simley since week 3 when they won a sloppy game against Henry Sibley, but the Spartans have definitely improved since then. The defense was hitting hard and the offensive moved the ball very well on the ground. Nick Wanzek threw one pass all night and it was good for a score. He added three more rushing TDs. The Spartans improved to 4-5 after going 3-15 over the past two seasons.

#7 Henry Sibley 7 @ #2 Holy Angels 21

The Warriors ended their season swinging as they gave Holy Angels a bit of a scare. The Stars got a 72 yard touchdown run from QB Sam Keis in the second quarter to cling to a 7-0 halftime lead over the 1-7 Warriors. Holy Angels added a score in the third and fourth quarter and the Warriors punched one in late to make it a 21-7 final. Henry Sibley ended the season with just one win.

Section Semifinal Preview:

4AAA:

#4 Minnehaha Academy (6-3) @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran (9-0)
This game should be the fifth straight 50+ point game for the Crusaders.

3AAAA:

#4 Simley (4-5) @ #1 Saint Thomas Academy (8-0)
The Spartans winning streak ends here as the Cadets see their first playoff action.

#3 South St. Paul (8-1) @ #2 Holy Angels (8-1)
One of two huge semifinal games in Class 4A this weekend. I originally picked the Stars since South St. Paul on field turf makes me nervous, but the Packers are rolling into this one with a head of steam. This will be covered for Game of the Week.

Perfect Season in the Books, Section Tourney Up Next

After steamrolling their way through the regular season, the St. Croix Lutheran Crusaders are ready to take their show to the 4AAA tournament. Steamrolling through the section almost seems a sure thing at this point. The Crusaders, as always, are getting it done on the ground. Oh sure, they may mix in the occasional 50-yard playaction pass, but that’s probably just to keep QB Matt Olson’s arm loose. Otherwise, St. Croix is running the veer on every play. Opponents know it’s coming, and they still can’t stop it.

And normally, your running backs aren’t bigger than your linemen, but for the most part that’s the case in West St. Paul. Size on the line really isn’t an issue for head coach Carl Lemke as much as technique is. Go to a Crusader practice and you will see them running the same plays over and over. And over. It also doesn’t hurt that the Crusaders have three guys in the backfield capable of hitting a home run on any play: Olson and RBs Wesley Tucker and Jackson Goplen.

There are never any guarantees in sports, but the 4AAA tournament shouldn’t be close. Consider the following:

• The Crusaders are the #1 ranked team in Class AAA for the first time in school history.
• They are the #1 ranked team in the QRF in Class AAA.
• They average 45.3 points per game on offense which is the highest in AAA.
• Only Mankato West and Marshall have scored more points amongst all AAA, AAAA, and AAAAA teams.
• They average almost 400 yards rushing per game.
• Their average margin of victory is almost 3o points.
• They can have a game (Week 7 at St. Anthony) where a running back (Goplen) can rush for over 200 yards/3 TDs and he’s not even the best RB that night (Tucker went for 350/4 TDs).
• They’ve had 20 TD runs of 30+ yards.
• 15 TD runs of 40+ yards.
• 12 TD runs of 50+ yards.
• 7 TD runs of 60+ yards.
• 3 TD runs of 70+ yards.
• And 2 TD runs of 80+ yards.

So basically what I’m getting at here is that the Crusader offense is dangerous, explosive, powerful, and just flat out dominant. Whatever adjective you want to use.

And hey, the defense isn’t too shabby either. St. Croix is just allowing 17 points per game (which is actually pretty good for Class AAA), but many of those points are coming in garbage time. 73 of the 137 points allowed came in the 4th quarter when many starters were out. The Crusaders have only allowed 64 points in the first 3 quarters so far this year.

This is a team that should roll through the 4AAA tournament and is capable of doing some damage at state.