Maple Lake Edges Out Eden Valley-Watkins: Game Recap
I headed West for this Friday night to watch this Class AA match-up between 7th ranked Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles (3-0) and 14th ranked the Maple Lake Irish (2-1) in a game that I feel everyone in Maple Lake was happy with at the end result at Irish Country Stadium.
Maple Lake football program
The first quarter started off with a 7-yard rushing touchdown by RB Ben Goelz putting the Irish up to a 7-0 lead over the Eagles. This would be a defensive battle as the Irish would go into the 2nd quarter with a 7-0 lead.
Halfway into the 2nd quarter, the play of the game happened. After an Eagles fumble, junior defensive lineman Sam Rivere picked up the ball and took it 91 yards to the end zone to put the Irish up to a 14-0 lead going into halftime at Maple Lake.
14-0 lead for Maple Lake at the 10:59 mark in the 2nd quarter.
After the half ended, it was time for the Eagles to play some football. QB Luke Jansen threw a dime of a pass to WR Carson Geislinger to get the Eagles on the board in Maple Lake and close the gap to make the score 14-7. The offensive attack for the Eagles was highly led by RB Mason Molitor who had over 100 total yards in the game. The Eagles defense was led by DL Jared Geislinger who was in on many key stops for the Eagles throughout the game. After a defensive stop, the Eagles used the no huddle offense frequently and drove down the field to setup another QB Luke Jansen passing touchdown to WR Gavin Mathies.
In the 4th quarter, it was very much a back and forth game between the Irish and the Eagles. But within the last couple minutes, Maple Lake started have success with their QB Ben Clapp pushing the ball down the field with ease. Just outside the 1-minute mark the Irish were on their 7-yard line and about to attempt a 25-yard field goal by Kicker Charlie Berndt. The kick was good and Irish Country Stadium was ecstatic that there Irish now had a 17-14 led with not much time left for the Eagles to capitalize. The dagger was put into the Eagles with a few tics left when QB Luke Jansen was picked off by Aiden Staloch to put the icing on the cake for the Irish to walk away with a 17-14 win over Eden Valley-Watkins, and should definitely move them up in Class AA rankings.
Tied game at 14 at the 2:09 mark in the 4th quarter.
Maple Lake (3-1) will go on the road to Holdingford (2-2) who got pummeled by Pierz 47-0 this last Friday. Eden Valley-Watkins will take on Pierz (4-0) at home in a tough match-up.
Maple Lake HC Tim Knudsen talking with his team after their win over Eden Valley-Watkins
Check out my Nate’s Big Dogs of the Week coming up next featuring this game between Maple Lake and Eden Valley-Watkins.
