Minnesota: State Football Tournament Takes Shape

By Matt Krumrie

MaxPreps.com

The Fab Five

1. Cleveland Rocks: The Cleveland High School football team qualified for the state tournament for the first time in school history with a 30-8 win over Janseville-Waldorf-Pemberton in the 9-man Section 2 finals. Bobby Gullickson ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Clippers. Gullickson scored on runs of 1, 13 and 1 yard in the win. Mary Schmitz added a 4-yard scoring run and Andy Eppmeyer threw a touchdown pass to Matt Miller for the other Clippers touchdowns. Schmitz added 113 yards as Cleveland gained 296 yards of offense in the win. Cleveland (10-1) plays Wheaton (11-0) Friday at St. Cloud State University.
2. View from the top: Eastview sometimes gets overlooked because the Lightning play in the tough Lake Conference, dominated by top-ranked Eden Prairie. But that is also exactly why the Lightning shouldn't be overlooked - because they are a top team in one of the top conferences in the state. The Lightning advanced to state with a convincing 34-13 win over neighbor and rival Apple Valley in the 3AAAAA final. Corey Eul completed two passes, both for touchdowns. He threw a 43-yard score to Dan Edem and a 20-yard scoring pass to Trevor Sutherland in the win. He also added a 5-yard run to help Eastview advance to state. Eastview (10-1) will play Mounds View (9-2) Friday at Griffin Stadium.
3. More Floyd: Michael Floyd gets his share of headlines, but it's hard to overlook just how dominant the Cretin-Derham Hall senior wide receiver and Notre Dame recruit is. He was at his best Friday in the Raiders 53-32 win over Tartan in the 3AAAAA final. Floyd scored four touchdowns in the first half in the win. His touchdowns came on a 52-yard pass from John Nance, a seven-yard pass from Nance, a 25-yard punt return, and a 24-yard pass, from Nance again. Running back Shady Salamon, a Minnesota recruit, also scored four touchdowns, on runs of 3, 10, 1 and 6 yards in the win. Cretin plays Lakeville North Thursday at Griffin Stadium in St. Paul.
4. DeLaSalle Dominant: DeLaSalle defeated Concordia of Roseville 61-47 in a high-scoring 4AAA section final where defense was apparently optional. Do-it-all running back Jeremy Randle rumbled for 246 yards and four touchdowns and quarterback Michael Van Leer threw for 188 yards and four touchdowns in the Islanders win. DeLaSalle (10-2) plays Rochester Lourdes Thursday at Park (Cottage Grove) High School.
5. Washburn Wins Wild One: Score one for the Minneapolis City Conference. Minneapolis Washburn defeated St. Thomas Academy 42-41 to win the 3AAAA title and become the first Minneapolis or St. Paul public school team to advance to the state tournament since 1997, when Washburn did it then as well. The Millers enter the state with a potent offensive attack and strong defense, led by 6-foot-6 receiver/defensive end Ra'Shede Hageman, quarterback Brandon King, running back Montrell Wade and head coach Pete Haugen - who coached that team to state back in 1997. Washburn (9-2) plays Waconia (10-1) Friday at Macalester University.

Three to Watch

1. Glencoe-Silver Lake will attempt to win back-to-back titles after defeating Dassel-Cokato in the 3AAA section finals. Dusty Jurek scored two short touchdowns and quarterback Matt Muenchow ran for a 75-yard touchdown in the win. GSL (11-0) plays LeSueur-Henderson (11-0) Friday at Eden Prairie High School.
2. LeSueur-Henderson: GSL won't be the only team pumped to be in the state tournament. LH advanced to its first state tournament in 20 years with 26-0 win over Waseca in the 2AAA finals.  Bryce Pax led the Giants with 110 yards rushing, which included a 44-yard touchdown run in the win.
3. Stephen-Argyle Central: The Storm won another section title, are still undefeated and going for its fifth-straight state title. Defense of that title starts Thursday at the FargoDome in Fargo, N.D., against McGregor (10-1).

Two Hot Too Handle

1. Paul Bernier, Lakeville North: Bernier ran 26 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns to help Lakeville North defeat Owatonna in a 1AAAAA final.
2. Bruce Tanhoff, Mankato Loyola: Tanhoff ran ten times for 186 yards and a 75-yard touchdown and had 13 tackles on defense to lead Loyola to a 45-17 win over Le Center in a 2A section final.

Inside the Numbers

219 - The number of yards Mahtomedi running back Stephen Johnson ran for in a 42-34 4AAAA section final win over Chisago Lakes. The Zephyrs are 8-3 entering the state tournament, and undefeated when Johnson runs for 100 yards or more.

108 - The combined number of points scored between DeLaSalle and Concordia Academy in a 4AAA final. Concordia quarterback Cameron Kramer completed 24 of 44 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns.

55 - As in 55 yards, the length of Mankato Loyola kicker Adam Gaspar's field goal Friday in the Crusaders win over Le Center. Gaspar, an all-state honorable mention soccer player, came close to the state record field goal of 57 yards, kicked by Fabian Kleinschumacher of Fisher-Climax in 2003.

26 - The number of seconds left when Andover scored the winning touchdown in the 7AAAA championship game, which the Huskies won 17-13 over Northwest Suburban Conference rival Anoka. The winning touchdown came when Wes Satzinger threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Graham.

1 - The number of times Andover, a school that is less than a decade old, has qualified for the state tournament. This year is the first time in school history the Huskies have made it to state in football. The reward? A matchup against defending 5AAAA state champ and top-ranked Eden Prairie.