WAYZATA FOOTBALL 2008: Trojans 49, Minneapolis North 14 Final

PLYMOUTH, MN: The Wayzata Football Trojans took on the Minneapolis North Polars tonight. The Wayzata community had an idea that it was going to be one sided, and it definitely was. Wayzata started most of their drives at about the 50 yard line, and Minneapolis North seemed to always be deep in their own zone. The future of Wayzata Football, such as Chris Lindsey who scored a touchdown tonight, got plenty of chances to play. Here is how the game went down:

The Polars had some small success throwing the ball on their first drive until Robbie Heflin intercepted a Carlton Littlejohn pass at about the 50 yard line to give the Trojans a short field.

Garret Englehardt had a nice scamper to advance the ball, and Chris Kroeten had a 14 yard rumble to score Wayzata’s first touchdown of the evening. David Stranghoener added the extra point and Wayzata lead 7-0 at 6:08 in the first.

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The Polars took their time moving the ball out of their end zone, and another Littlejohn pass attempt to about the 50 ended up in Wayzata defender Paul Hoffer’s hands. Hoffer returned the ball to the 3 yard line, where on the next play John Ries threw a slant to Matt Tarpley to pick up the easy touchdown. David Stranghoener added the extra point to make it 14-0 with 4:13 left in the first quarter.

Littlejohn and the Polars took over at their own 18 yard line, and again had a couple of plays for positive yardage, but for the most part were swallowed up by the Trojans 2nd ranked defense in the metro.

The Trojans put together a nice drive with Tarpley at quarterback, flipping the ball to his receivers Fritz Rock and Adan Hassan. A couple of smash mouth runs later, Garrett Englehardt punched the ball in and David Stranghoener added the extra point to make it 21-0 with 11:49 remaining in the second quarter.

The Polars punted almost immediately after they received the ball. John Ries threw a nice 25 yard pass to Adan Hassan as Wayzata threatened again at the Polars 12 yard line. Chris Kroeten picked up 7 yards to make it 3 and 1 inside the 5 yard line, and Garrett Englehardt took the hand off from John Ries and pushed a pile of Trojans and Polars into the end zone. David Strangenhoener added the extra point to make the score 28-0 Wayzata with 9:55 left in the 2nd quarter.

Wayzata’s starting defense was dominating on every series as the Polars were rushed, tackled for loss, and covered extremely well on every play. They punted deep from their own territory again, but it was blocked by Kevin Potas and recovered deep in Polar territory. Tarpley threw an unfortunate interception to give the ball back to the Polars who took over on their own 20.

Minneapolis North again had some modest success moving the ball through the air, but again was stymied by the swarming Trojan defense.

Wayzata took over on their own 47 yard line and again had a short field. At this point in the game, Brad Anderson began to give his second offensive team some reps as Matt Tarpley continued to quarterback and Chris Lindsey got a number of carries and picked a couple three first downs. Matt Tarpley scrambled to his right on the quarterback keeper to pick up big yardage and got tackled on the 2 yard line. Chris Lindsey got the call and dove into the end zone for the touchdown. David Stranghoener added the extra point to make it 35-0 with 3:10 left in the 2nd half.

Minneapolis North again started deep in their own territory, and quickly punted after 3 plays.

The Trojans took over on the Polar 31 yard line with Kramer Berg at the helm. Chris Lindsey had a nice run to the right side for 7 yards. Mac Cameron carried the ball while pushing both the offensive and defensive lines, and then picked up a first down to end the half. Wayzata lead 35-0 at halftime.

To start the third quarter, Kramer Berg again was playing quarterback. Berg handed off to Mac Cameron on consecutive plays for large gains. Cameron Krugerud caught a pass with his fingertips running slant as Berg hit him in stride for a first down and 10 yards. After a penalty, Berg hit Max Clausen for a completion, but AJ Troup dropped a laser to turn it over on downs.

Minneapolis North took over on the Wayzata 47, the first time they had been in Trojan territory. They were somewhat successful moving the ball against the Trojan 3rd string defense. The Polars moved the ball to the 14 yard line, and threatened even more on a couple of runs by Leandro Dower. Carlton Littlejohn scored the Polars first touchdown on a quarterback keeper at 4:20 left in the 3rd quarter to make the score Wayzata 35, and Minneapolis North 6.

On the ensuing kickoff, Josh Kilgard, who’s job it is to hit somebody according to John Connelly, picked up a dribbled kick and returned it 44 yards to the 26 yard line in Polar territory. Dan Wexler steered the Trojan ship at quarterback. Wayzata turned it over on downs.

The Polars stayed with their passing game, and Shawn Hamlin intercepted the ball and ran it back into Minneapolis North territory. Aaron Roth scored the 10 yard touchdown and David Strangenhofer added his 20th consecutive pat to make the score 42-6 with 1:01 left in the 3rd quarter.

The Polars fumbled the ball on their 36 yard line and Nick McClelland recovered it.

Sasha Doran took over as quarterback to start this series. Aaron Roth had a nice carry to pick up a first down. Jack Vettel picked up 9 yards to make it 2nd and 1 on the Polar 22 yard line. Aaron Roth took a hand off from Andrew Kolb to pick up the first down and goal. Jack Vettel scored the touchdown from three yards and David Stranghoener added the extra point to make it 49-0 Wayzata with 9:11 left in the 4th quarter.

The Polars took over and decided to run the ball against what must have been the 5th string defense. Ralph Sherman made a nice tackle on a pass play against a North receiver. On the next play, Littlejohn threw a long corner post ball to Ariel Deloney, and Minneapolis North scored their second touchdown of the night. The Polars added the two point conversion to make it Wayzata 49, Polars 14 with 4:11 left in the game.

Wayzata took over with Drew Donlin handing off to Aaron Roth and Jack Vettle for nice runs. The clock expired and the Trojans won.

Coach Brad Anderson had this to say after the game: “We got everyone in, I don’t think we had any major injuries, there’s always things you can improve upon. For what we wanted to get accomplished tonight, we got it all done. Next week we have a big conference opponent, I’m sure they are very excited to get at us, I know they have pretty good athletes, but we will worry that tomarrow and tonight we will celebrate this victory.”

Chris Lindsey commented on his touchdown and his team after the game: “The holes are just there, the O-line did their thing… you see the hole you just go.”

FIRST QUARTER
W – Kroeten 14 run (Stranghoener kick)
W – M. Tarpley 4 pass from Ries (Stranghoener kick)
SECOND QUARTER
W – Engelhardt 11 run (Stranghoener kick)
W – Engelhardt 4 run (Stranghoener kick)
W – Lindsey 2 run (Stranghoener kick)
THIRD QUARTER
MN – Littlejohn 1 run (pass failed)
W – Roth 10 run (Stranghoener kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
W – Vettel 2 run (Stranghoener kick)
MN – Deloney 44 pass from Littlejohn (Thames pass from Littlejohn)

Announced attendance: 42,871

Wayzata takes on the Hopkins Royals next week at Hopkins. Stay tuned to Wayzata.com for all the latest Wayzata Trojan Football news on the 2008 season.