The Wayzata Football Trojans rolled over the Armstrong Falcons tonight in the Battle of 494. The win is Wayzata’s 2nd in the conference and makes the Trojans 3-0 and sitting atop the Classic Lake Conference standings.
Wayzata won the field position battle in the first quarter but was unable to capitalize in the way of points. A summary of notable plays in the first quarter:
- Armstrong received the ball first and started at their own 19 yard line. Wayzata Trojan Kevin Potas and the defense stopped the Falcons on their first drive.
- The Trojans received a punt and started at midfield. The drive stalled with a couple of missed connections in the passing game despite Chris Kroeten’s strong running.
- Armstrong started their second drive on their own 31, and Paul Hoffer intercepted a Falcon pass at midfield and ran it back to the 30 yard line.
- Trojans started from the Falcon 30 yard line, had a number of strong runs by Chris Kroeten, but John Ries fumbled the ball on the 7 yard line.
- The Trojans defense kept the Falcons from doing anything as Grant Olson made an outstanding tackle and Chris Meyers defended a long Falcon pass attempt.
The second quarter was markedly different. The Trojans got their offense going, and the defense continued to be stout:
John Ries threw a number of great passes, first to Cecil Doe for a long gain and then to Matt Tarpley for Wayzata’s first Touchdown.
- Paul Hoffer intercepted an Armstrong pass and returned it about 20 yards.
- A Trojan fumble on the first play of the ensuing drive turned the football back over to Armstrong
- Daryl Brown had an outstanding 40 yard punt return to electrify the crowd and motivate his team by getting to the Falcon 6 yard line.
- John Ries threw a pass to Wayzata tight end Ryan McGregor who was left all alone in the back of the endzone for an easy score to make it 14-0.
- AJ Troup made a great interception.
- Kevin Knight scampered into the endzone for a 13 yard touchdown to make it 21-0.
As the first half ended, the defense began to swarm as they gained confidence and the Falcons effort began to diminish.
The third quarter is when Wayzata began to pour it on with a bevy of offensive scoring, strong defensive play, and a bunch of points.
- Trojans Chris Kroeten and Kevin Knight strung together a couple of nice long runs. A host of Trojans kept the football moving for Wayzata.
- John Ries threw a pass to Cecil Doe who did a shake and bake to put the ball into the end zone to make the score 28-0.
- Trojan defender Tobi Okuyemi fell on a fumble to start another Wayzata offensive drive.
- The next Wayzata drive ended with John Ries threw a 17 yard touchdown pass to Fritz Rock to make the score 35-0.
- Trojan linebacker Grant Olson recovered a fumble to start another set of downs for Wayzata.
- Kevin Knight scampered into the end zone from 17 yards out to make the score 42-0.
- Chris Lindsey scored on a touchdown with a 1 yard run to make it 49-0
The fourth quarter turned into a running clock because Wayzata led Armstrong by more than 35 points in the fourth. Highlights included:
- Duncan Sallstrom turned an interception into a touchdown with a 20 yard return to make it 56-0.
- Aaron Roth made a big splash with a 51 yard dash into the endzone late in the fourth quarter to make in 63-0.
- Armstrong’s Dwight Bates kept the Trojans from making it a shutout with a 55 yard scamper.
Coach Anderson said this to his team after the game. “Never look at a victory and turn your nose up at it. We weren’t perfect tonight, but victories are tough to come by and you have to celebrate them. I thought our defense played great the whole game. Offensively, we didn’t play well in the first half, fumbled the ball, three or four times, just didn’t take care which is what you have to do if you are going to be good club. While we are disappointed with how we played offensively in the first half, we still put up 21 points and second half I thought we executed a lot better.”
Cecil Doe had this to say about the game as well: “We started slow, made some mistakes in the first half. Coach told us you can’t play down to your opponent, you have to play hard every play.” He also described his touchdown scoring play, “I ran the wrong route actually. I shook the guy, I was supposed to run a little angle route, but I just ran straight cause I was open. I flipped my head around right away and the ball was there. When I saw the endzone, I said I gotta get there.”
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Trojans did very well against Armstrong tonight. It would have been nice to have skunked the Falcons, but winning as big over another team is always uplifting. The Trojans need to work on not turning over the ball via fumbles. The defense is playing very well, and the offense is capable of scoring with a number of different players, running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks. Stay tuned all the latest Wayzata Football news. Announced attendance was 64,871.
Wayzata.com is your Battle of 494 leader.
