By Matt Krumrie
MaxPreps.com
First Five
1. Class 1A Top-Ranked Goes Down: Ottertail Central pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season Friday, defeating top-ranked Class1A Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 16-12. Ottertail Central was led by the rushing of Erik Smith (24 carries, 134 yards) and featured a balanced attack with three other runners totaling over 55 yards each, including Troy Thorson (63 yards), Alek Ujjekberg (55 yards) and Shane Winkler (55 yards). Ottertail Central had a number of long scoring drives, including a nine minute drive to open the game, that resulted in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Winkler. With the win the Bulldogs improved to 4-1, while KMK fell to 4-1. Cook County, the second-ranked team in 1A, defeated East Central 28-14 and will likely be the top-ranked team in the state in the next 1A poll.
2. Buffalo Breaks Becker: Things were going well for the Becker Bulldogs, who were off to a 4-0 start and ranked No. 3 in the state in Class 4A. They just beat defending state champion and top-ranked Totino-Grace. Then they met Buffalo. The Bison, a 5A school from the Wright County Conference, jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead and never looked back, rolling to a 31-6 win over the previously unbeaten Bulldogs. With the win Buffalo improved to 4-1. Taylor Vick led a potent Buffalo ground game with 123 yards and two touchdowns and 107 yards from Josh Gaughan.
3. Farmington the Frontrunner: Every year the race for the Missota Conference title is a battle to the end. This year is no different. Through five weeks of the season Farmington has emerged as the team to beat at 4-0 in the conference, 5-0 overall. The Tigers stayed undefeated with a convincing 34-14 win over Prior Lake in a battle of conference unbeatens Friday. The Tigers led 14-7 at halftime but outscored PL 20-0 in the third quarter to pull away. Quarterback Brent Beenken ran for two short touchdowns (1,1) and passed for two touchdowns in the win. Josh Zitzman was on the receiving end of both of those touchdowns, which went for 60 and 12 yards. Farmington has outscored opponents 173-54 this season. Derek Waldbillig leads the conference in rushing with 99 carries for 711 yards and eight touchdowns. The Tigers have three conference games left – against New Prague, Holy Angels and Shakopee – who have a combined record of 4-7 in conference action. Will the Tigers hold on and emerge as conference champions? Time will tell.
4. Northwest Suburban Battle: While the Missota Conference title race is annual battle to the end, the same could be said for the Northwest Suburban Conference. While players like Blaine quarterback James Peterson have made headlines for their offensive success this season, the top three teams in the conference – Blaine, Champlin Park and Osseo are all 4-1 – are led by their staunch defense, as well as potent offense. Champlin Park is giving up just over eight points per game, Blaine just over 9 points per game, and Osseo just over 11 per game. Those three teams are ranked in the top 15 in the Metro 5A defensive rankings for points allowed per game. In addition to Peterson (1,112 yards passing, 10 touchdowns), other offensive leaders on these teams are Osseo quarterback Tate Christopherson (792 yards and 10 touchdowns), Osseo running back Robert Ricks (532 yards rushing, 5touchdowns), and Champlin Park running back Brandon Marquardt (579 yards rushing, 7 touchdowns). If that’s not enough – Anoka and Coon Rapids are both 3-2 and still alive and well in the conference title hunt.
5. Pelican Power: Pelican Rapids entered its game against Warroad, the No. 7 team in Class 3A, unbeaten (4-0), but unranked. That will likely change after PR dominated Warroad in a 54-0 Homecoming victory. Pelican Rapids quarterback Tydan Storrusten was 9-for-13 for 156 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a short touchdown. Matt Skow-Anderson was on the receiving end of all three Storrusten touchdowns, and finished the game with four catches for 97yards. Andrew Sorum intercepted a pass 48 yards for a touchdown in the big win for Pelican Rapids, who moves to 5-0 and hosts Breckenridge Friday.
Three to Watch
1. Nine-Man Clash: The top two teams in nine-man will face each other Friday when top-ranked Stephen-Argyle Central, which has won a state-record 72 consecutive games, travels to No. 2-ranked Kittson County Central. SAC is 5-0 and KCC is 4-0 – while holding opponents scoreless the entire season (they’ve also scored 61, 45, 74 and 49 points in four wins). SAC defeated KCC twice last season – 15-0 in the regular season and 34-15 in the Section 8 title game.
2. Elliott Mathieu, Minneapolis Southwest: Mathieu leads Minnesota’s big schools in passing yards with 1,304 through five games. He has completed 80-of-127 passes and has 17 touchdowns. Southwest is 4-0 (5-0 overall) in Minneapolis City Conference action, and tied with Washburn (4-0, 4-1) for first. Washburn hosts Southwest in a game that could decide the MCC title Friday.
3. Dan Doran, Minnehaha Academy: Doran leads Minnesota’s small schools (3A, 2A, 1A) in passing yards with 986 through five games. He has completed 91-of-151 passes and has six touchdown passes.
Two Hot Too Handle
1. Chris Breuer, St. Croix Lutheran: Breuer, the son of former NBA player and Minnesota Gophers basketball star Randy Breuer, is built like a basketball player – he’s 6-5. But he is a potent weapon on the football field as well. The senior had five sacks (seven total tackles) in a 56-20 win over Breck last week. And he hauled in three passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Breuer has 13 catches for 312 yards and four touchdowns for the 3-1 Crusaders.
2. Adam Lentz, Rochester Lourdes: Lentz, only a sophomore, has been a key cog on an undefeated Rochester Lourdes team. He is second in the Hiawatha Valley League in rushing with 502 yards heading into Friday’s game against Kasson-Mantorville (4-1). Chris Griffin is another potent runner for Lourdes – he had 117 yards rushing in a 22-7 win over Cannon Falls Friday.
Inside the Numbers
92 – Yards North Saint Paul’s Shane Ekman ran for on a touchdown in a 37-14 win over South Saint Paul Friday. Ekman ran for 166 total yards and three touchdowns in the win. He now has 666 yards rushing on the season and is averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
51.4 – Points per game for DeLaSalle. The Islanders have scored 257 points in five games (5-0) with a season high of 65 points in one game.
50.2 – Points per game by Minneapolis Southwest.
44 – Points per game by Minneapolis Washburn, which hosts Southwest Friday in a game of unbeaten Minneapolis City Conference teams.
21 – The weekly Anders Lee touchdown report has the Edina quarterback total moving up three more notches, as Lee scored three touchdowns last week and is now at 21 touchdowns on the season through five games.
13 – Touchdowns by DeLaSalle’s Evan Williams, which leads the team. Donzell Bell has added 7 touchdowns, Adam Coleman 6 and A.J. Barker 5 for the high-scoring Islanders.
2 – Touchdowns allowed this season by Rochester Lourdes (5-0).
