Late rally lifts Dawson-Boyd past Vikings, 22-20
If Wednesday night's football game was written into a book, it would be titled "A Tale of Two Halves".
The combatants seemed to switch uniforms at halftime as Dawson-Boyd rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to edge Minneota 22-20 in a Camden Conference game on Thursday night in Dawson.
After playing solid defense and compiling 159 total yards of offense en route to building its halftime lead, Minneota's offense went flat and the Dawson-Boyd (7-1) started finding holes in the defense. Minneota (6-2), which turned the ball over three times, gained only 98 total yards in the second half.
Meanwhile, Dawson-Boyd had just 38 total yards in the first half and 194 in the second half. Senior quarterback led the second-half comeback with three touchdown passes and two conversion passes.
Minneota received the No. 4 seed for the Section playoffs Tuesday, Oct. 25 (see separate story) and were pitted against No. 5 Yellow Medicine East.
Minneota scored on its opening drive of the games against Dawson-Boyd as Jackson Lacek returned the kickoff down the left sideline to the Minneota 33. From there, it took 11 plays before Lucas Rybinski scored on a three-yard run after going in motion to the right and taking a handoff from quarterback Isaac Pohlen. Peyton Gillund converted the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Late in the second quarter, the Vikings increased their lead to 14-0 following a nine-play, 54-yard drive, all on the ground. Zack Fier carried seven times in the drive, including a six-yard touchdown with 1:35 remaining.
Following a Minneota drive that stalled on its own 33, the Blackjacks went on a 63-yard drive with Keegon Wicht connecting with Brayson Boike for a 20-yard scoring strike. The conversion run failed and the Vikings still clung to a 14-6 lead.
That was the first of three consecutive Dawson-Boyd touchdowns to take lead it would not relinquish.
The Blackjacks knotted the game in the fourth quarter when Wicht and Boike up again, this time on a 17-yard touchdown. That same paired teamed up for the two-point conversion to make it 14-14.
The Blackjacks' Holt Larson then picked off a Pohen pass, their third of the game, at the Minneota 40. Three plays later, Holt took a screen pass from Wicht and scampered 38 yards for a touchdown. Larson also grabbed the conversion toss from Wicht for a 22-20 lead.
Minneota had time for one final drive after pinning the Blackjacks deep in their own territory and forcing a punt that rolled to the 47 with 1:24 left in the game. On the third play of the drive, Zack Fier hauled in a short pass from Pohlen and raced 43 yards for a touchdown.
Forced to go for a two-point conversion to possibly send the game into overtime, the Vikings elected to have Pohlen pitch the ball to Fier, whose attempt to get into the right corner of the end was thwarted by the Blackjacks' defense.
The Vikings were unable to recover an onside kick attempt and Dawson-Boyd ran out the clock for the win.
Fier ran for 79 yards and caught two passes for 52 yards for the Vikings. Pohlen had 130 yards passing. Gillund had three receptions for 31 yards. Peyton Sheik caught one pass for 33 yards, while Anthony Rybinski had one for 14 yards.
Parker Bradley and Alex DePestel led the Vikings in tackles with nine each. Bradley and Sawyer DeSmet each had a sack. Gillund also recovered a fumble.
Wicht threw for 120 yards for the Blackjacks. Larson had 105 yards rushing and two receptions for 40 yards. Boike had three catches for 46 yards.
Dawson-Boyd 22, Minneota 20
Minneota............7 7 0 6 - 20
Dawson-Boyd.....0 0 6 16 - 22
Scoring Plays
Min - Lucas Rybinski 3 run (Peyton Gillund kick)
Min - Zack Fier 6 run (Gillund kick)
DB - Brayson Boike 20 pass from Wicht (run failed)
DB - Boike 17 pass from Keegon Wicht (Boike pass from Wicht)
DB - Holt Larson 38 pass from Wicht (Larson pass from Wicht)
Min - Z.Fier 43 run pass from Isaac Pohlen (run failed)
Minneota Offensive Statistics
Total yards: Minneota 251, Dawson-Boyd 232 .... Passing yards: Minneota 130, Dawson-Boyd 120 ... Rushing yards: Minneota 121, Dawson-Boyd 112 ... First Downs: Minneota 14, Dawson-Boyd 14 .... Turnovers: Minneota 3, Dawson- Boyd 1 .... Penalties: Minneota 2-5, Dawson-Boyd 2-10.
Minneota Individuals
Passing (com-att-yds-td-int): Isaac Pohlen 7-15-130-1-3
Rushing (att-yds): Zack Fier 21-79, Isaac Pohlen 11-17, Lucas Rybinski 3-15, Anthony Rybinski 6-10
Receiving: Zack Fier 2-52, Peyton Sheik 1-33, Peyton Gillund 3-31, Anthony Rybinski 1-14
Minneota Defensive Statistics
Tackles (solo-assist-total): Parker Bradley 5-4-9, Alex DePestel 3-6-9, Zack Fier 3-3-6, Peyton Gillund 3-2-5, Sawyer DeSmet 2-2-4, Anthony Rybinski 2-2-4, Hudson Scholten 1-3-4, Eli Gruenes 1-2-3, Keaton Jurrens 0-3-3, Anthony Lipinski 1-1-2, Jack Lacek 0-2-2, Joe Verschelde 0-2-2, Ezequiel Monzon 1-0-1
Interceptions: Zack Fier 1, Brody Larson 1
Tackles for Loss: Parker Bradley 2, Alex DePestel 1, Sawyer DeSmet 1, Anthony Rybinski 1
Sacks: Sawyer DeSmet 1, Parker Bradley 1
Fumble recovery: Peyton Gillund 1
Punting (no-avg.): Peyton Gillund