The Minnewaska football team finished off its regular season with a convincing win over Benson on Wednesday that moves the Lakers to 6-2 heading into the playoffs.
Minnewaska left no doubt against a winless Braves team as the Lakers jumped out to a 21-6 lead by the half. The Lakers never looked back on the way to the 35-14 win. That came despite being penalized 11 times for 118 yards.
"We played extremely well at times, but it wasn't our best game," Minnewaska head coach Jeremy Christensen said. "We had way too many penalties and put ourselves in some bad positions because of that. Even though we won without much trouble on the scoreboard, we need to clean things up and be better in the playoffs."
Senior quarterback Matt Gruber did a little bit of everything, finishing with 313 total yards. Gruber threw for 120 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-13 passing and added 195 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. He got off to a good start with two first-quarter touchdowns, including a scoring run of 65 yards that made it 14-0 after the Drew Nelson PAT. Senior running back Garrett Jensen added the Lakers' final touchdown of the game as he ran for 68 yards on 12 touches.
"Matt had an outstanding game last night," Christensen said. "With our option style offense there is no telling who in our backfield is going to be the main weapon. It all depends so much on what the defense tries to take away. Last night, Benson did a good job of taking away our dive backs and Matt reaped the benefits of that."
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Line play has been good for the Lakers through much of this season, and that was the case again on Wednesday.
"Our kids up front did a very nice job creating gaps for him to run through," Christensen said. "(Matt) also had one of his best nights as a passer, and that again is a combination of good protection and some very nice catches and routes from our receivers."
Benson (0-8) made it a one-possession game in the first quarter when Aaron Zosel ran in a four-yard touchdown to make it a 14-6 game. Any momentum didn't last long, though, as Gruber found Jackson Johnsrud on a 10-yard touchdown pass later in the second quarter.
"Jackson's touchdown catch was one of the prettiest I've ever seen," Christensen said. "He went up and high pointed the ball in the corner of the end zone and had great field presence to get his toes down inbounds."
The third quarter belonged to the Lakers as Gruber and Jensen had touchdown runs of eight and four yards, respectively, to blow the game open.
Minnewaska outgained the Braves 415 to 227 in total yards. The Lakers dominated on the ground, gaining 292 yards rushing and holding Benson to 60.
Minnewaska now looks ahead to the Section 5AA playoffs. The Lakers got the second seed behind Paynesville, with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City getting the third seed after all three of the top teams finished with 6-2 records. Minnewaska plays Benson again on Oct. 24 in Glenwood with a 7 p.m. start time.
After winning two games in 2016, the Lakers have already turned things around for what has been a memorable fall for these players and coaches. They would love nothing more than to continue that all the way to a section championship in a field that looks evenly matched at the top. Minnewaska beat third-seeded ACGC 14-8 on Sept. 8 and did not play top-seeded Paynesville during the regular season.
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Fourth-seeded Sauk Centre (5-3) has also played well down the stretch, winning four of five games, including a 28-27 victory over the Lakers on Oct. 6. That sets up what should be a competitive bracket for a state bid.
"We have to play clean football in order to be successful," Christensen said. "Good teams don't make many mistakes, if any, and in playoffs you're going to get everyone's best shot. We must be mentally sharp and execute our schemes to perfection as best we can. On top of that, we have to make sure we capitalize on any mistakes that our opponents make. When we get an opportunity, we can't let it slipped through our fingers."
MINNEWASKA 14 7 14 0 - 35
BENSON 6 0 0 8 - 14
TOTALS - Minnewaska - First downs - 21; Rushing - 292; Passing - 123; Total offense - 415; Penalties - 11-118; Sacks - 5 for 23 yards lost; Time of possession - 28:08; Benson - First downs - 14; Rushing - 60; Passing - 167; Total offense - 227; Fumbles lost - 1; Penalties - 1-10; Time of possession - 19:52
MINNEWASKA OFFENSE - Passing - Matt Gruber - 9-13, 120 yards, TD; Ryan Amundson - 1-1, 3 yards; Rushing - Gruber - 15-195, 3 TD; Amundson - 4-7; Jack Blevins - 2-7; Case Fish - 3-0; Christian Bartz - 2-11; Garrett Jensen - 12-68, TD; Ryan Christianson - 8-8; Tyson Meyer - 2-2; Max Reichmann - 1-2; Receiving - Jackson Johnsrud - 3-41, TD; Hunter Moen - 1-5; Grant Jensen - 1-13; Blevins - 1-37; Garrett Jensen - 1-14; Jaeger Jergenson - 3-18
