Kerry Rodd
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"We were playing good basketball in the first half, with not too many turnovers," FDL coach Earl Otis said. "We played good defense in the first half as well."
Junior Adam Dragicevich has made himself into a player for us. Sophomore Michael Olson is another kid who worked his tail off this summer and it paid off for him as he worked his way into a starting gig, but unfortunately, he ruptured his Achilles tendon in our second game and will miss the rest of the season."
"The kids don't need a lot of motivating to get ready for Wrenshall," Carlton coach Andrew Weber said. "It is a great rivalry among the two teams. We came out and pressured them and then we took advantage of some transition baskets." The Bulldogs came out with a press that eventually pushed them to a 33-10 halftime lead, with many points coming off turnovers.
While the Bulldogs were enjoying a lead at half, the Rebels coaches were scheming for ways to tame the Carlton offense and get more of the same from their own squad.
"The play is at a higher level than most people anticipate. Most of the guys have experience beyond high school so the level of play is higher than what a lot of fans remember."
"I think both teams focused on getting our post players involved in the offense early and to get each of them a lot of touches," Esko coach Scott Antonutti said. "It was a somewhat typical first game, I think. Both teams missed some shots that they would like to 'do over' and there was a substantial number of unforced turnovers."
p>"It was a roller coaster ride, with momentum switching every game," Esko coach Desiree DeLeon said. "In the final game, it went point for point, and it was obvious both teams left everything they had on the floor. Both coaches had to use our timeouts and the girls just had to battle it out. It could have gone either way."
>The third touchdown of the quarter was a Pokornowski 35-yard run, pushing the score to 28-0 after Eli Benson notched all three extra-point kicks. "We controlled the line of scrimmage and had success with just about everything we did," Lenarz said. "Our physical play wore them down early and we were able to gain big chunks of yardage, both running and passing." <
He was buoyed by a roster brimming with speed and athleticism. So even during the ragged showing at Two Harbors, a penalty- and turnover-infested contest between section contenders, and again the following week in the rain and fog against GNK, Arntson remained optimistic. Sure enough, the offense began to gel.
"I never thought I would have a chance," Nelson said after returning home from the Twin Cities. "I never believed I would have gotten that far, let alone winning the whole thing."