9-Man State Football: Panthers pounded 61-6

MINNEAPOLIS — Quarterback Trenton Bleifus was 10-of-17 passing for game-best 153 yards and four touchdowns in leading Grand Meadow’s 61-6 shellacking of South Ridge in a Class 9-Man state semifinal Friday morning at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Bleifus, a 6-foot, 192-pound junior right-hander, found teammate Collin Jacobson on a 32-yard strike in the first quarter, while also connecting with Collin’s younger brother, Landon Jacobson, once and Bryce Benson twice during the second quarter.

Running back Perry Stejskal ran in the game’s opening two touchdowns in the first quarter, as the Section 1 champion Superlarks racked up 485 yards of offense, 23 first downs and sent the never-contested affair into running time come the fourth quarter.

Unranked Grand Meadow (12-1) will now face either Goodridge/Grygla-Gatzke or Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley in Friday morning’s Prep Bowl at 10 a.m. at the Metrodome.

South Ridge’s lone touchdown came when quarterback Kody Karppinen tossed a 10-yard pass to teammate Drew Janke, who reached inside the right pylon midway through the final quarter.

The Panthers’ Dominic Janke had 112 kickoff return yards. Bill Redding, meanwhile, added six punts and Karppinen another in the Culver-based school’s busy special teams unit Friday morning.

South Ridge finished 11-2; as the second-year Panthers had just five first downs in 48 minutes — the first coming when Karppinen connected with Janke with 32 seconds remaining in the first half.

Class 9-Man State Semifinals:

South Ridge; 0 – 0 – 0 – 6 — 6

Grand Meadow; 22 – 20 – 7 – 12 — 61

GM — Perry Stejskal 16 run (Landon Jacobson run).

GM — Stejskal 1 run (Pass failed).

GM — Collin Jacobson 32 pass from Trenton Bleifus (Bleifus run).

GM — Bryce Benson 18 pass from Bleifus (Bleifus run).

GM — L. Jacobson 14 pass from Bleifus (Kick blocked).

GM — Benson 13 pass from Bleifus (Run failed).

GM — Cameron Gomer 14 run (Wyatt Richardson kick).

GM — Blake Olson 7 run (Run failed).

SR — Drew Janke 10 pass from Kody Karppinen (Pass failed).

GM — Trent Tangen 1 run (Run failed).

Individual Statistics:

Rushing: GM — Trenton Bleifus 8-86, Landon Jacobson 12-76, Cameron Gomer 6-49, Perry Stejskal 6-42, Blake Olson 7-29, Cole Hartson 1-23, Trent Tangen 5-20, Michael Stejskal 1-8, Dylan Bathke 1-2, Cameron Turner 1-(-3); SR — Devon Lee 10-39, Brody Wilton 6-7, Austin Miller 1-3, Drew Janke 1-3, Bill Redding 2-1, Kody Karppinen 6-0, Spencer Otis 1-(-8). Passing: GM — Bleifus 10-17-0-153; SR — Karppinen 6-16-1-26, Otis 0-2-0-0. Receiving: GM — Bryce Benson 4-76, C. Jacobson 2-35, L. Jacobson 3-31, P. Stejskal 1-11; SR — Janke 2-23, Redding 2-5, Colton Peterson 1-(-2).

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