2022 Prep Bowl Preview Part Two

 If Friday's Prep Bowl games were a dandy, then the three Saturday games should also fit that description as HSGN previews the three championship games.  

10:03:  Nine Man:  Mountain Iron-Buhl vs. Spring Grove.  It's North vs. South in the day's first title game as the Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers battle the Spring Grove Lions.  The Rangers are in their ninth state tournament and in Mountain Iron's first title game since they won the 1972 Class B Championship.  Mountain Iron-Buhl beat Kittson County Central top ranked Wheaton-Herman-Norcross as five different Rangers reached the end zone.  The Lions are in their fifth state tournament and in the hunt for their first state title since winning two consecutive state titles in 2017 & 2018.  Spring Grove has a strong running game anchored by quarterback Elijah Solum, who scored three touchdowns in the semifinal game against Fertile-Beltrami and Hunter Holland ran for 130 yards.  Can the Rangers end their 50 year state title drought or will the Lions bring another title trophy south?  

1:00:  Class AAA:  Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton vs. New London-Spicer.  Five towns.  Two teams.  One Class AAA championship to be decided.  The Rebels are in their fourth state tournament and their first game for a state championship.  D-G-F advanced to the finals with wins over Esko and Fairmont.  The Rebels are led by running back Jordan Summers, who ran for 168 yards and a touchdown against Fairmont.  The Wildcats make their seventh trip to state and will play in their fourth title game.  Last time New London-Spicer won a state title was 2009.  They got a couple of close wins in the tournament, starting with Milaca in the quarterfinals and Watertown-Mayer in the semifinals.  In the semifinals, Brycen Christensen reached the end zone three times.  Will fans in Dilworth, Glyndon and Felton be celebrating their first state title or will New London-Spicer take home their first championship trophy in 13 years?  

4:00:  Class AAAAA: Elk River vs. Mankato West.  It's been a great year for the Elk River School District as all three District 728 schools have played at US Bank Stadium.  Rogers and Zimmerman were eliminated and now the Elks are the last school standing.  Head coach Steve Hamilton has relied on the run all season as quarterback Cade Osterman ran for 218 yards in the semifinals against Mahtomedi. Memo to PJ Fleck.  Come to the Class AAAAA final.  You could use Osterman next season in the backfield when Mo Ibraham graduates.  As for the Scarlets, they are the defending Class AAAAA champions and are playing in their 14th state tournament.  Mankato West is 5-0 in state title games, including foiling a district showdown against Elk River with a 14-10 semifinal victory over the Rogers Royals.  Will Governor Tim Walz cheer on his former school to state title number six or will the Elk River rushing attack ground the Scarlets.  

Plenty of high school football action coming up December 2 & 3.  

2022 Prep Bowl Preview Part One

 While winter sports are already underway, the 2022 Minnesota Prep Bowl wraps up the football season a week late due to the  Vikings Thanksgiving game, as seven title games will be played December 2 & 3 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  Here's a preview of the four games to take place December 2.  

10:03:  Class A:  Springfield vs. Minneota.  Two southern Minnesota teams will venture north for the Class A final.  The Springfield Tigers are in their eighth state tournament and on a quest for their first Class A title since 2005.  The Tigers beat Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg and Deer River to head into the finals.  They will have a tough task in the Minneota Vikings, playing in their 16th state tournament and 11th championship game.  Chad Johnston's bunch held off Lester Prairie in the quarterfinals and stopped a fierce Fillmore County Central rally in the semifinals.  Last year, the Vikings lost to the Mayer Luther Crusaders in the Class A championship. Can the Vikings earn their eighth championship trophy or will the Tigers end their 17 year state title drought?

1:00:  Class AA:  Barnesville vs. Chatfield:  The Barnesville Trojans make their fifth trip down I-94 to state and and are 0-3 in state title games.  Barnesville shutout Moose Lake/Willow River in the quarterfinals and bulldozed Jackson County Central in the semifinals., thanks to John Roller rushing for 150 yards and two touchdowns.  The Chatfield Gophers are in their 10th state tournament and their seventh championship game.  They are 6-0 in championship games.  Chatfield beat Eden Valley-Watkins in the semifinals as quarterback Sam backer ran for two touchdowns.  Can the Trojans finally bring a state title trophy up I-94 or will Chatfield stay unbeaten in championship games.  

4:00:  Class AAAA:  Simley vs. Hutchinson.  Good news for Inver Grove Heights football fans.  Your Simley Spartans will be playing for their first state title thanks to Reid Ramackel's game winning field goal against the Rocori Spartans.  Simley is in its fifth state tournament and playing for their first state title.  Now the bad news.  they will face the defending state champion Hutchinson Tigers, playing in their 25th state tournament and eighth championship game where they are 6-1 in title games.  Hutchinson high powered offense has averaged 51 points in two state tournament games, including a 42-28 win over the Zimmerman Thunder.  Andrew Ladwig reached the end zone three times for the Tigers.  Will Simley fans head back happy to Inver Grove Heights or will Hutchinson bring a seventh state title home down Highway 7?

7:00:  Class AAAAAA:  Maple Grove vs. Rosemount.  The Class AAAAAA title game concludes the days festivities as the Maple Grove Crimson, in their 10th trip to state, return to US Bank Stadium by beating the team they lost to in last year's finals, the Lakeville South Cougars.  They will face another Dakota County team, the Rosemount Irish.  The Irish have been unbeaten all season and they are playing in their 12th state tournament with a chance to win their first state title since the last year of the pre-Prep Bowl Era, 1981.  Irish eyes fans were smiling when they beat Centennial and Eden Prairie, using an offense similar to Elk River (more on them in Part Two) where they run run and run.  In the game against Eden Prairie all the yards were by runs.  Can the Crimson redeem themselves from last year's title loss or will the Irish end their 42 year state tournament drought.  

Next:  The three Saturday championship games.  

Osseo/Park Center Shuts Out Hopkins/Park

 The Osseo/Park Center girls hockey team held host Hopkins/Park to the first and last letter of their hometown as Tessa Strand scored two goals to lead them to a 6-0 win Saturday night at The Rec Center in St. Louis Park. 

Osseo/Park Center put the game away in the first period with four goals.  Strand would receive a pass from Lauren Rainerson in the center slot and she put it past Hopkins/Park goalie Evelyn Osland.  They would tally again :30 later on a goal from Gabby Edlund.  The margin would extend to three when Reanna Cruz would score on a rebound.  Osseo?Park Center would conclude the first period scoring on Strand's second goal with 3:04 left in the period.  

Rainerson would reign for Osseo/Park Center in the second period as she headed through the center slot, found an open spot on the left side of Oslund and sent the puck to the net.  

The game would head into running time in the third period as Maya Anderson got a pass from Strand and scored from the right side to end the scoring.  

Osseo/Park Center outshot Hopkins/Park 43-12.  

Osseo/Park Center improved their record to 3-0-1 and will host the Dodge County Wildcats on Tuesday, November 22 at 7 PM at Dick Vraa Arena in Osseo.  Hopkins/Park fell to 1-2 and also returns to action on the 22nd when they head to Waconia to take on the Wildcats at 7 PM at the Waconia City Ice Arena.  

And the Battle of the Spartans Goes to Simley

 Thursday afternoon's Class AAAA semifinal game was a Battle of the Spartans and came down to Reid Remackel's field goal with 5:22 left that led Simley to a 17-16 win over Rocori at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  

Simley's running back tandem of La'tayvion McCoy and Gavin Nelson helped control the clock on their opening drive lasting 6:15.  Nothing would come of it as they lost the ball on downs.  The good news for Simley was that McCoy would reach the end zone on a three yard run four seconds into the second quarter.  Rocori would take the lead when Jack Spanier's pass deflected on Simley's Dez Smith and into the hands of Gabe Johnson for a 22 yard touchdown.  Simley would regain the lead as Caden Renslow passed to David Gogins and he ran with the speed of the nearby light rail trains into the end zone for a 69 yard touchdown.  Rocori would wrap up the first half scoring as Spanier lined up in the shotgun and bulged through an opening in the line for a four yard touchdown and Rocori led at the half 16-14. 

Nobody would advance the numerals on the giant US Bank Stadium scoreboard in the third quarter.  There would be good news for Simley in the fourth quarter as they were faced with fourth and goal at the Rocori 16 yard line.  Head coach Chris Mensen brought in Remackel to attempt a field goal.  His kick barely went over the crossbar to put Simley ahead.  Would the red and blue clad Simley fans head back to Inver Grove Heights happy?  They would when Daniel Martin sacked Spanier and Simley got the ball back on downs with 3:26 to go.  They would get to the Rocori five yard line before Renslow took a couple of kneels and that would be the game.  

Gavin Nelson would lead Simley with 32 carries for 167 yards.  The defense would prevail, holding Rocori to 123 yards of total offense.  Spanier completed nine of 16 passes for 78 yards.  

Simley improved their record to 11-1 and will advance to the Class AAAA championship game against the Hutchinson-Zimmerman winner on Friday, December 2 at 4 PM at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  Rocori wrapped up their season with a record of 9-3.  

Spring Grove Lions Bloom in Nine Man Football Semifinals

 Though the weather outside was snowy and chilly, the Spring Grove Lions blossomed inside US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis as Elijah Solum ran for three touchdowns to lead them to a 27-6 victory over the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons Thursday afternoon in the state Nine Man Football Semifinals.  

All the first half scoring was done in the first quarter.  The Falcons would take their only lead of the game on Caiden Swenby's 24 yard touchdown pass to Ryan Van Den Einde. .  The Lions would get the ball next and Solum would score his first touchdown on a 14 yard keeper run.  It wasn't just Solum that was in the Spring Grove spotlight.  On fourth down, Fertile-Beltrami was forced to punt and Swenby's punt was caught by Tysen Grinde.  He would dash down the left sideline for a 76 yard touchdown and the Lions would lead 14-6.  

Neither team would tally in the second and third quarters but Spring Grove had a chance to extend their lead.  Solum heaved the ball toward Jaxon Strinmoen in the end zone but the Falcons Isaiah Wright batted the ball away.  The Lions would put the game away with two fourth quarter touchdowns from Solum.  The first would come from two yards and the second, following Grinde's interception of Swenby would come from two yards.  

Solum would lead Spring Grove with 12 completions out of 18 for 116 yards.  He carried 19 times for 70 yards.  Hunter Holland rushed 17 times for 134 yards.  

The Lions improved their record to 12-0 and will face the Mountain Iron-Buhl Ranger in the Nine Man Championship Game Saturday, December 3 at 10:03 AM at US Bank Stadium.  Fertile-Beltrami concluded their season with a record of 12-1.  

Hopkins/Park Opens Home Season With Overtime Win

 The home season for the Hopkins/Park girls hockey team opened in the great outdoors as Avery Shaw scored the game winning goal with 2:38 left in overtime to lead them to a 4-3 win over the Hutchinson Tigers Saturday afternoon at The Rec Center in St. Louis Park.  

The Tigers took the lead with two first period goals from Elle Schweim.  The first came when her shot deflected off Hopkins/Park goalie Evelyn oslund and rolled into the net.  The second would come on a rebound.  

Hopkins/Park would bounce back to even the score with two goals in the second period.  Lindsay Schuchard would go top shelf following a pass from Camryn Witham and Linden Loos would score from the left side.  

Heading into the third period, Hopkins/Park would regain the lead on Lucy Johnson's left side goal.  Hutchinson was not out of it yet.  With Sofia Hoffman serving a tripping penalty, Audrey Hanson would tie the game with 1:43 left in regulation to force the game into overtime.  

The frigid fans from both Hopkins and St. Louis Park would go home happy as Avery Shaw would score a power play goal with 2:38 left in overtime to seal the victory.  

Hopkins/Park improved their record to 1-1 and returns to action on Tuesday, November 15 at 7 PM against the Moose Lake Area Rebels at the Minnetonka Ice Arena.  The Tigers fell to 0-1 and will also be in action on the 15th as they face the Willmar Cardinals at 7:15 at the Willmar Civic Center.