Hard Work Pays Off: Totino-Grace at Champlin Park Recap
On what became an incredibly exciting as well as snowy Friday night two days ago on the 11th, the Champlin Park Rebels hosted the Totino-Grace Eagles in a pivotal 6A state matchup featuring the traditionally dominant Eagles and the overlooked and slept on Rebels. Champlin opened the game…
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Continue ReadingOn what became an incredibly exciting as well as snowy Friday night two days ago on the 11th, the Champlin Park Rebels hosted the Totino-Grace Eagles in a pivotal 6A state matchup featuring the traditionally dominant Eagles and the overlooked and slept on Rebels. Champlin opened the game up midway through the 1st quarter as 2018 All District and Sports Jam All Area honoree #4 Jaice Miller (6’4, 215 lb.) – who is now playing QB after a more than successful season at WR last year – put the first points of the game on the scoreboard as he found #3 Brock Johnson (5’10, 175) on a quick slant that the senior turned up field, turned on the jets, and ran the ball 64-yards for a Rebel TD.
Credit: MNFootballHubCP missed the extra point however, yet retained a 6-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter with Totino-Grace driving deep into Rebel territory. Both teams came ready to play for the much hyped game, and the pads were cracking early into the cold Minnesota night. Both squads feature some prominent athletes with college football ability and size, and the QB battle of Miller – who holds offers from SDSU and North Dakota -and TG‘s 2021 #11 Kristoff Kowalkowski (6’2, 200) – who has been offered by Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic – was particularly intriguing as the weather was not favorable to passing that night. Another intriguing positional battle featured both teams interiors. Champlin’s DL of #99 Sam Knutson (6’1, 235), #85 Cole Fredrickson (6’4, 225), and #44 Annikan Yang (5’8, 250) had to work for every single pass rush or run stop against a TG OL anchored by #77 Joe Hinkle (6’0, 236), #73 Michael Heurung (6’4, 285), #50 Isaac Rooker (6’3, 237), and #16 TE Joe Alt (6’6, 240). I could hear their pads cracking all night.
The 2nd quarter began with a nice pass from Kowalkowski to #5 Luke Delzer (6’1, 195) – who had a big night for the Eagles – which got TG down to their opponents 11. 2021 #24 Deezwin Cooper (5’9, 185) then punched the ball in on a run up the gut to get Totino on the board, and after a successful PAT to get the lead, with 9:51 left in the 2nd quarter.
Credit: MNFootballHubThe following drive began with a nice 23-yard run by the dynamic Miller,but soon after, the senior exited the game with an apparent hand injury. His replacement, safety #18 Cam Hammonds (5’6, 150) showed some grit and had a few shifty runs and a great 4th down throw that bought time for Miller to get his hand taped and get back on the field. TG’s aggressive defense held strong however, and kept Champlin from getting a first down at their own 15-yard line where the Rebels attempted a FG but missed. Kowalkowski again got Totino down the field with a variety of throws, but flags killed the drive and the half ended with the score remaining 7-6 Totino-Grace.
The Eagles received the 2nd half kickoff and immediately got back to work with the ground game when Delzer busted up the middle of the CP defense, bounced it left, and scampered 45-yards down to the Rebel 20-yard line. Champlin’s defense found some fortitude however, and #5 Devon Moore (6’0, 175), who played both ways and was all over the field, made a great tackle to force a 4th down. Kowalkowski made a nice pass on a comeback route into the endzone on 4th down, but it could not be completed and Champlin Park retained the ball and immediately got back to running the ball with Miller. Both teams made some nice plays the remainder of the quarter, and the 3rd ended with Eagles in possession of the ball setting up what became a crazy 4th quarter.
Credit: MNFootballHubThe 4th quarter began with stout defense by both squads, and Totino fumbled the football at their 46-yard line giving Champlin the opportunity they needed on offense to take over the game. However, their offense sputtered and they had to rely on their defense after they punted the ball back to the Eagles with 7:40 left in the game. CP, led by their Dline and LB #45 Noah Link (6’3, 185), played assignment sound football and forced TG to punt the ball back to them with the game on the line and 4:35 left on the clock. Shortly after, Miller threw a dime to Mr. Clutch Brock Johnson who timed his jump perfectly and mossed two TG defensive backs for a crazy 42-yard gain that got the Rebels down to the 1-yard line with only a couple minutes left on the clock. CP put in their heavy package consisting of three running backs and Miller, but were rejected from the end zone twice by some stellar penetration by TG’s front eight. However, Miller called his own number on third down and leapt over a couple Eagles in-route to a go-ahead TD putting CP up 12-7.
Photo By Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngineAfter a failed 2 pt. attempted pass, Totino got the ball back with less than two minutes and two timeouts left. They made the game interesting and put a string of passes together, but back-to-back sacks by the towering Knutson put the game out of reach. Champlin Park find themselves 6-1 going into the last week of the regular season in Minnesota and sure to move up in the rankings from their number six spot in the 6A and Metro rankings. Totino-Grace, despite outplaying CP most of the game, now finds themselves 5-2 and an uphill battle if they want to win a 6A state championship in 2019.
Hudl Recap: http://www.hudl.com/v/2C5DaG