Vikings score quick, often, 46-6
Sun, 09/23/2018 - 10:54pm
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By Scott Thoma Mascot Staff Writer
Minneota scored on its first five possessions Friday night en route to a 46-6 rout of Yellow Medicine East in Granite Falls.
It took only 15 seconds for Minneota to put points on the board as fleet-footed Cole Sanow took the opening kickoff and scampered 85 yards down the right sidelines to paydirt.
Sanow who rushed for 233 yards in 28 carries a week ago in a 30-23 win over Canby, gained 159 yards in only six totes against YME. He also scored on runs of 21, 5 and 55 yards.
This hasn't been the type of season Minneota coaches are accustomed to with various injuries depleting the squad, yet the Vikings still stand 4-0.
“I've never had a season like this with all the injuries we’ve had this year,” said Coach Chad Johnston. “A lot of guys have had to play a lot more minutes this season than expected because of injuries. They've had to step up and they are learning as we go.”
They seem to be learning quickly.
One of those playing a new position is Thomas Hennen, a standout receiver who was relegated to playing behind center after his freshman brother Jacob broke his left wrist in the first game of the season.
Hennen finished by completing 7-of-14 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s got a nice touch on his long throws,” said Johnston.
With Hennen not playing receiver where he shined last season, Landon Rolbiecki, Alex Salzer and others have had to pick up the slack.
Rolbiecki and Salzer each scored a touchdown against YME; Rolbiecki on a seven-yard throw from Hennen in the third quarter and Salzer on a 64-yard bomb in the second quarter.
“We aren’t rah-rah type of coaches who give a lot of high-fives or things like that,” said Johnston. “And usually the kids reflect the coaches. So we need the players to bring some excitement to the team.
“And with Landon out last year with an injury, you can see he is excited to be a part of the team again. And that excitement rubs off on some of the other players.”
YME never cross midfield in the first half as Vikings went into intermission holding a 33-0 lead.
After Sanow’s opening kickoff return for a score, the Vikings held YME to a three-and-out before putting together an eight-play 65-yard drive that was capped by three-yard TD run by LaShad Smith. After Hennen connected with Logan Sussner for the conversion, the Vikings led 14-0.
That drive was keyed by a 12-yard pass from Hennen to Rolbiecki, a 20-yard run by Blake Reiss, and an 11-yard run by Sanow.
Minneota then scored three more times in a span of 5:29 before the first-quarter ended.
Following a punt to the Minneota 33, it took only 14 second for Sanow to reach the end zone on a 67-yard run.
The Vikings’ impenetrable defense then held YME to another three-and-out, and the offense responded by putting together a 70-yard drive, highlighted by a 46-yard pass from Hennen to Salzer and a 14-yard run by Reiss, before Sanow scored from five yards out to make it 27-0 as the first quarter ended.
Minneota outgained YME 409-167 in total yards. YME was limited to five yards on the ground in 27 attempts.
The Vikings tallied in the second quarter came at 9:44 when Hennen found Salzer for a 64-yard TD bomb.
Minneota added another score early in the third stanza. On second down, Sanow found a big hole and outran several defenders on his 55-yard run for a 40-0 advantage.
LaShad Smith gave the Vikings excellent field position and ignited the crowd when he hurdled a defender on a punt return to the YME 40.
During the drive, Hennen hit Rolbiecki with a 15-yard pass on fourth-and five. Reiss then took a handoff and ran 12 yards before Hennen and Rolbiecki hooked up for a seven-yard TD to cap the scoring.
“We had some bit catches from our receivers,” said Johnston. “Salzer had a couple of nice catches (2 for 108 yards) and we need him to continue to be a part of that. He’s athletic and has good speed. And Rolbiecki (4 for 42) made some big catches for us, too.”
YME’s lone score came with 11:30 left in the third quarter when Angel Jimenez connected with Carter Sneller for a 29-yard score. Jimenez passed for 142 yards, including 121 yards to Sneller who had seven catches.
Smith, a starting defensive back who also serves as the Minneota kicker, was injured at the end of the third quarter when he turned his ankle.
“It’s twice as big as normal,” he said after the game. “I just came down on it wrong. But it will be fine and I’ll be back at practice on Monday.”
If Smith is unable to play next week’s Homecoming game against Ortonville, he would be the third starting defensive back to be injured, following Jacob Hennen and Tanner Sterziner, who broke a bone in his foot in the first game. And Smith is also the team’s kicker.
“We’re getting a little thin (at defensive back),” said Johnston. “We’re going to keep needing people to step up because you just never know when we’re going to need someone to play additional minutes. That’s why the coaching staff stresses that everyone needs to be ready.”
Johnston is pleased with the unbeaten record at the midway point of the season, but it hasn’t been without more mistakes than he’d like.
“We’ve been kind of a Jekyll and Hyde team to this point,” he said. “We’ve had two games where we minimized our mistakes and two games where we haven’t. Some of that has to do with the injuries and different players still learning. But we’ve got to clean those things up.”
Reiss finished the game with five carries for 53 yards, while AJ Josephson picked up14 yards in three carries. Smith and Conner Sik each chalked up 13 yards on the ground.
On defense, Beau Banish and Ty Lipinski each notched a sack. Banish led the Vikings with five solo and two assisted tackles, including three for losses. Smith had five tackles, while Cole VanOverbeke, Layne Lozinski, Logan Sussner had three apiece. Reiss, Grady Moorse and Mitchell Rost had three tackles each.
Minneota 46, YME 6
Minneota ………….27 6 13 0 – 46
YME………………......0 0 0 6 – 6
First Quarter
Minneota – Cole Sanow 85 kickoff return (kick failed)
Minneota – LaShad Smith 3 run (Logan Sussner run)
Minneota – Sanow 67 run (Smith kick)
Minneota – Sanow 5 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
Minneota – Alex Salzer 64 pass from Thomas Hennen (kick failed)
Third Quarter
Minneota – Sanow 55 run (Smith kick)
Minneota – Landon Rolbiecki 7 pass from T.Hennen (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
YME – Carter Sneller 29 pass from Angel Jimenez (pass failed)
Team Statistics
Minneota YME
13 First Downs 9
6-25 Penalties/Yards 3-23
0-0 Fumbles/Lost 0-0
26-261 Rushes/Yards 27-5
148 Passing Yards 162
409 Total Yards 167
Individual Statistics
RUSHING (No., yds.): Minneota – Cole Sanow 6-159, Blake Reiss 4-53, AJ Josephson 3-14, LaShad Smith 5-13, Conner Sik 3-13, Alex Lacek 1-6, Kade Lozinski 2-2, Thomas Hennen 2-1 … YME – Ayden Friese 9-24, Adam Winger 5-7, David Hidalgo 1-(-4), Ethan Peterson 7-(-5), Angel Jimenez 5-(-17).
PASSING (No., comp., int., yds): Minneota – Hennen 14-7-1-148, Lozinski 1-0-1-0 … YME – Jimenez 27-12-0-242.
RECEIVING (No., yds.): Minneota – Alex Salzer 2-108, Landon Rolbiecki 4-42 Sanow 1-(-2) … YME: Carter Sneller 7-121m Bennett Knapper 1-19, Friese 4-13.
KICKOFFS (No., yds., avg.): Minneota – Smith 8-296-37.0 … YME – Hidalgo 2-97-48.5
KICKOFF RETURNS (No., yds.): Minneota – Sanow 1-85, Tate Walerius 1-4 … YME – Sneller 6-17, Winger 1-7, Bryant Bestland 1-6.
PUNTS (No., yds., avg.): Minneota –Salzer 1-26-26.0 … YME – Hidalgo 7-252-36.0
PUNT RETURNS (No., yds.): Minneota – Smith 2-30-15.0, Hennen 1-0-0.0 … YME – Friese 1-0-0.0
INTERCEPTIONS: Minneota – None … YME – Sneller, Dalton Anderson.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Minneota – None … YME – None.
TACKLES (solo-assists): Minneota – Beau Banish 5-2, Reiss 3-0, Layne Lozinski 3-1, Smith 2-3, Cole VanOverbeke 2-2, Mitchell Rost 2-1, Hennen 1-0, Lacek 1-1, Sussner 1-3, Grady Moorse 1-2, Ty Lipinski 1-1, AJ Myhre 0-2, Walerius 0-1 … YME – Sneller 5-2, Jimenez 3-2, Winger 3-1, Loren Labatte 3-2, Bestland 2-3, Hidalgo 1-0, Friese 1-3, Peterson 1-1, Oscar Galvan 1-1, Cole Fischer 1-0, Anderson 0-1.
SACKS: Minneota – Banish, Lipinski … YME – None.
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Minneota – Banish 3, Reiss 1, VanOverbeke 1, Rost 1, Lipinski 1 … YME –Sneller 2, LaBatte 1.
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