|
Metro 22, Outstate 17
On a cool, wet and windy
Saturday night, the Metro All-Stars held Outstate scoreless
in the second half and rallied from a 10 point deficit to
win the 35th Annual Minnesota High School All-Star Football
Game 22-17 at St. Cloud State University’s Husky Stadium.
Outstate leads the series 15-14 after 29 games. Metro and
Outstate have split the four games played in St. Cloud.
This game started with a bang on
the first play from scrimmage. Outstate’s Mario Butler (RB,
Rochester Mayo) took a handoff, swept around right end and
ran 80 yards for a touchdown. The play set two Minnesota
All-Star Football Game records: longest rushing touchdown
and fastest scoring play at the start of the game (15
seconds). Charlie Klaverkamp (St. Cloud Tech) added the PAT
and Outstate had a quick 7-0 lead.
Both teams alternated
quarterbacks on every series, with Ryan Grant (Eden Prairie)
starting for Metro and Logan Becker (Blue Earth Area)
starting for Outstate. Greg Morse (St. Paul Como Park)
entered the game at QB on the second Metro possession. On
his first play, Morse hit Fritz Waldvogel (St. Thomas
Academy) on a 36 yard pass to midfield. Two plays later,
Morse found Waldvogel again for a 48 yard TD pass. The PAT
by Matt Kloss (Coon Rapids) tied the game at 7-7 with 10:20
remaining in the first quarter. Late in the first quarter,
Outstate was on the move, driving to the Metro 6 yard line
before the drive stalled. Klaverkamp kicked a 23 yard FG
with 52 seconds left to give Outstate a 10-7 lead after one
quarter.
With Glencoe-Silver Lake QB Matt
Muenchow at the helm, Outstate drove into Metro territory
late in the 2nd quarter. In the final minute, Muenchow hit
Collin Stinogel (St. Cloud Tech with a 30 yard pass, with
Stinogel winning a one-on-one battle to come down with the
catch. With 24 seconds left in the half, Muenchow rolled
left and hit RB Ben Kall (Rochester John Marshall) with an 8
yard TD pass. Klaverkamp’s PAT made it 17-7 Outstate at the
half.
In the third quarter, Metro
drove to the Outstate 10, where Kloss kicked a 27 yard FG to
make the score 17-10 after three quarters.
In the decisive fourth quarter,
with the gusty wind at their backs, Metro outscored Outstate
12-0 to win the game. In the first minute of the quarter,
Greg Morse threw his second TD pass of the game, a 9 yard
fade pass to Dan Brown (Osseo) in the right corner of the
end zone. The PAT was missed and Metro was within one point
at 17-16. On the next Metro possession, Metro RB Paul
Bernier (Lakeville North) swept right and ran 14 yards for
the go-ahead touchdown. And attempted shovel pass on the
conversion attempt was unsuccessful and Metro led 22-17.
Led by Muenchow, Outstate drove
methodically down the field (and into the wind) for a
potential winning score. A fourth down pass into the right
corner of end zone was knocked down by Zac Kallas (Eden
Prairie), ending the threat.
The close game was reflected in
the total yardage: 356 for Metro and 350 for Outstate.
Metro relied on the pass with
272 yards in the air and 84 on the ground. Metro Offensive
MVP Greg Morse was 8 of 11 for 200 yards and two TD passes.
Ryan Grant was 5 of 12 for 78 yards. Fritz Waldvogel led the
Metro receivers with three catches for 86 yards and a TD.
Brad Weiers (New Prague) caught two passes for 45 yards and
Matt Dvorak (St. Croix Lutheran) caught two for 41 yards. On
defense, Metro defensive MVP Billy Morgan (Rosemount) was in
on 8 tackles and Danny Offerman (Roseville) was in on 9
tackles. Andy Joyce (Wayzata) had the only Metro
interception. Jordan Eaton (DL St. Paul Highland Park) was
credited with two sacks.
Outstate rolled up 261 yards on
the ground and 98 in the air. Outstate offensive MVP Matt
Muenchow (QB Glencoe-Silver Lake) was the offensive leader.
He had 20 carries for 92 yards rushing and was 6 of 10 for
85 yards passing with one TD pass. Mario Butler (Rochester
Mayo) had 7 carries for 84 yards and a TD. Ben Kall (RB
Rochester John Marshall) was a workhorse with 11 carries for
40 yards and 1 catch for an 8 yard TD. On defense, Outstate
defensive MVP Mike Valesano (LB Brainerd) was in on 6
tackles as was Nathan Maher (LB Rockford). Tyler Spiczka
(Sauk Rapids-Rice) had an interception.
Head Coaches: Metro – Dave
Ziebarth (St. Thomas Academy); Outstate – Flint
Motschenbacher (Detroit Lakes).
Metro Captains: Brian Arnfelt
(Stillwater), Ryan Grant (Eden Prairie), Curtis James
(Edina), Zac Kallas (Eden Prairie); Outstate Captains: Eric
Dirkes (Albany), Alex Means (Mankato East), Matt Muenchow
(Glencoe-Silver Lake), Mike Valesano (Brainerd).
2008 MVPs: Metro – Greg Morse (QB
St. Paul Como Park), Billy Morgan (LB Rosemount); Outstate –
Matt Muenchow (QB Glencoe-Silver Lake), Mike Valesano (LB
Brainerd).
Uniforms: Metro – maroon w/gold,
gold trim; Outstate – white w/gold, maroon trim
Notes: This all-star game
featured the debut of new uniform colors. With the MFCA
adopting maroon and gold as the association colors, the new
all-star uniforms were also maroon and gold. The 62 degree
game temperature was the second coldest in All-Star Game
history. Mario Butler’s 80 yard TD run was the fourth
longest scoring play in All-Star Game history. |