One-sided win at Canby
Focus.
It's just one word, but in football, it has a world of meaning.
Minneota Offensive Coordinator Matt Myrvik stood in the center of the Viking troops after his team lashed Canby, 53-0.
The beating they inflicted on Canby spoke for itself — but the coaches were not looking at the scoreboard.
Instead, a warning sign saying, "Six penalties for 28 yards, broken coverage and shabby blocking — WARNING AHEAD!"
"We need to fix some things. There's no reason we're making the the same mistakes over and over again," said Myrvik.
Coach Chad Johnston's message waved a sense of "panic" over his troops.
"Next week is game No. 4. It goes fast and we're running out of time."
On paper, the Vikings proved all they had to prove.
Thomas Hennen's game-opening 75-yard romp for a touchdown laid the groundwork for a one-sided win.
And Coach Johnston would be the first to say, "We did a lot of good things."
One of those was the Hennen touchdown. The kick return team opened a hole and Hennen ran through it. Blockers like Josh Laleman, Lucas Bot, Shawn Buysse and Brant Buysse opened the way and Hennen ran it all the way.
Moments later, after a defense led by Shawn Buysse shut down Canby, the Vikings used a little trickery, a punt return reverse with Brant Buysse take the ball from Thomas Hennen and scampering 55 yards to the Lancers five yard line. Two plays later Cole Sanow scored from the four and suddenly it was a 13-0 game with only two and a half minutes off the clock.
Minneota would go on to gain 442 total yards, 300 on the ground — to a total of 102 for Canby. Isaac Hennen would rush for 140 yards and Alex Pohlen passed for 114.
But it wasn't the nice stats that concerned the Viking coaches.
It was that word again — FOCUS!
"You did some great things, don't get me wrong," said Coach Johnston.
"A couple of those special team plays were great. I don't know if it's playing up to the competition, or what?" quizzed the coach.
But, "There were times we just were not blocking. We left people untouched."
A third touchdown following an 11-yard pass from Pohlen to Thomas Hennen, went from Pohlen to Isaac Hennen, covered 16 yards and made the score 20-0 after one quarter.
It was that second quarter that drew the fire from the coaching staff. They executed a nice 25-yard pass to Thomas Hennen anand scored on a one-yard run by quarterback Pohlen. It was a 54-yard drive that took eight plays. But the disturbing part was a holding penalty in the middle of the drive.
Blocking in the back, pass interference and other miscues marred the rest of the quarter and Minneota led 26-0 at the half.
"These are breakdowns we can't afford to have," said Coach Johnston.
A marked improvement came in the second half. Logan Sussner caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Alex Pohlen; Isaac Hennen ran 46 yards for a score; Landon Rolbiecki ran 24 yards and hit paydirt and Blake Reiss scored on a 26 yard run.
With the outcome not hanging in the balance, the Vikings went to the rest of their squad to finish out the game.
"The season is just going too quick. But yes, it's a win, a shutout," Coach Johnston said.