Minneota collected the trophy after winning the Section 5 Championship Friday afternoon.

By Byron Higgin, Mascot Publisher

Even Coach Chad Johnston admitted he had some anxious moments.

"I wasn't comfortable because Dawson-Boyd is a very good team," he said.

His team fell behind 13-0, and trailed 13-6 at the half. But as the coach said, "The kids didn't want to walk off the field like they did last year," when they lost the section championship.

Sporting a solid second-half defense and timely offense, Minneota won, 22-13 to advance to the state tournament at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at Morris in the first round of the state.

"You played good defense when you needed it. That's what good teams do," the coach told his players after the game.

"We made the plays when we needed to," added senior lineman Adam Longtin.

Dawson-Boyd used their star running back Matt Anderson to pile up yards and points in the first half. He scored on on a 44-yard touchdown run for a 6-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first quarter.

Quarterback Ryan Swenson ran 13 yards for the second score and kicked the point for a 13-0 lead at 5:27 of the second quarter.

Minneota, which fumbled the ball away twice in the first half, was nearly left for dead when suddenly quarterback Sam Derynck directed a drive that saw him hit Jacob Cheadle on a 29-yard gain and Will Kurka for 18 more yards. Tony Noyes ground out 20 hard-earned yards to score with 2:49 left before half. The kick failed and the half ended with the Vikings down, 13-6.

"They were beating us up front," said Coach Johnston.

But when he needed his players to step up the most, Johnston was rewarded.

An electrifying pass from Derynck to Kurka was grabbed out of the air near the sidelines by the senior end. He streaked down the sidelines 85 yards and shocked the crowd with his touchdown. The Vikings faked a kick, but holder Beau Buysse got up, ran to the left side and tossed a two-point conversion to Kurka and Minneota had its first lead of the game, 14-13.

The rest was a defensive struggle, with Longtin and his cousin Jordan Longtin putting the pressure on Dawson-Boyd quarterback Swenson.

"I just followed my cousin and the seniors," said Jordan Longtin.

Justin Fox also looked like a man on a mission as he helped force Dawson-Boyd to surrender the ball.

When Fox and Adam Longtin sacked Swenson for a 12-yard loss with 3:29 to go, it set the Vikings up for their final touchdown.

It came at 2:22 when Noyce pranced into the end zone from seven yards out and Derynck passed the two-point conversion to Jesus Macias for the 22-13 lead.

Brett Przymus intercepted Swenson's final pass a 1:01 to give the section title to Minneota.

Coach Johnston acknowledged Noyes. The coach said, "He came up with big plays when we needed them. You know Tony's a good athlete and a big playmaker."

As for Noyes, well, he was relieved. "We finally got there — we're going to state. I didn't want this to be our last game," he said.

NOTE: Senior captain Mike Hammer, with a pulled achilles tendon in his leg, not only dressed but played several plays for the Vikings, with his knee heavily taped and with a brace. Unable to contribute as usually, he did play some, both on offense and defense, and in the end, helped his team to victory.