With the wind gusting at an above-average level from West to East and the Spuds field aligned in those directions, I thought that the two teams might strip down their play calling with an emphasis on trying to dominate at the line of scrimmage and on the ground.
After the first four possessions came to nothing that opinion was unchanged. It was on the fifth trip that I started to be proved wrong. Going against the wind, Moorhead's Trey Feeney dropped a pass off to Blake Walthall for the first points of the evening. After the defense forced another stop, Feeney hit Brady Walthall from just outside the red zone for another score.
With under two minutes to go in the first quarter I thought that the Eagles would at least be able to get into the second only down 14 but Moorhead shut them down once again. On the only play that they needed, the Spud's George Nyanforth made it 21-0.
And the bludgeoning was just beginning. Into the second, Moorhead forced another turnover-on-downs and then got Brady Walthall his second receiving score. Then came another punt, followed by another catch for points by Brady Walthall. 35-0 in lickity-split fashion. St. Cloud Apollo had to replace starting quarterback Logan Johnson with Andrew Karls due to an injury. The sophomore sub proved to be a bit of a spark for SCA as he managed to string together enough plays to put them in a position to knock the zero out. With a completion to Jack Randolph that was exactly what happened. The two-point conversion failed but at least they wouldn't be shutout.
With 90 seconds left in the half and the total domination that had played out, I thought that Moorhead would just hand the ball and go into the warming house. I was once again proved wrong. In 27 seconds they had another touchdown. 42-6.
I make a point of not criticizing the high school level action because the kids are full-fledged amateurs looking to have fun, make memories & possible get a chance to play at the higher level while many of the coaches are filling a role at their respective schools. That said, there's no justifiable reason to humiliate the other team that way. If Moorhead had handed the ball off and gotten a long run, that would have been at least a bit different. No, they went for another quick strike score before the break. It was a classless move that I've only had to witness once before, fortunately.
As I suspected it would, the score held in the second half. The only difference came when a couple of the subs managed to score for Moorhead. Carson Zimmel hooked up with Zach Hilber for one last receiving touchdown before the clock started running. And ran the clock did, all the way to zeros.
Final Score
Moorhead 49, SCA 6
Player of the Game
Brady Walthall had a whale of a game but the common denominator for the Spud offense gets the extra recognition.
Trey Feeney
Photo of the Game
For the full game gallery, click the pic!
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