Four minutes was all Anoka needed

Brian Jerzak October 15, 2020 @ 10:19 PM

All it took was four minutes. Four minutes turned a close game into a runaway victory. After being held scoreless in the first quarter at Eagan, the Anoka Tornadoes exploded for 27 points in the second quarter to open a big lead on the Wildcats. Twenty of those points came in the span of four minutes - paving the way to a 52-19 Tornadoes victory. After exchanging punts to start the game, Eagan got the first break of the game when linebacker Josh Cifuentes blocked an Anoka punt – setting his offense up on the Anoka twenty. The Wildcats cashed in on the first play of the possession with a twenty-yard touchdown pass from Alex Lachenmayer to . Trailing 6-0, Anoka’s offense got moving. Running back Dylan Schmidt set up the first score with a long run around the end. Soon after, Keenan Rodriguez caught the first of his two first-half touchdowns from quarterback . The extra point gave Anoka a 7-6 lead. Punting continued to be an adventure; this time, Anoka’s special teams came up with a block. Deutschman quickly found Rodriguez again to extend the Tornadoes’ lead to 14-6. Another Wildcats’ mistake set up Anoka with another short field. Anoka defensive lineman Austin Churchill blew into the Wildcats’ backfield and forced a fumble setting his team up just outside the red zone. Deutschman threw his third touchdown of the quarter, this time to Tommy Barrett, for their third touchdown in four minutes to lead 20-6. Eagan put together its best drive of the half to answer. The Tornadoes almost got off the field but gave up a 17-yard touchdown pass on a fourth and seven. 20-12 would be as close as the Wildcats would get. On second and goal from the twenty-yard line, Deutschman flipped a screen pass to Schmidt, who picked up his blockers and extended the Anoka lead to 27-12. Anoka nearly scored again before the half but was stopped inside the five-yard line. Eagan started to get its running game going in the second half, but on a fourth and five, Anoka linebacker William Vaillant made an open-field tackle to give the ball back to the offense. A nice mix of run and pass moved the Tornadoes back into the end zone. Linemen Andrew Byrnes and Tyler Nebelung did a solid job on the left side of the line, protecting the quarterback’s blind side and collapsing the Eagan defensive line to give Schmidt running lanes. They sprung Schmidt on a fifteen-yard run that set up a Schmidt one-yard touchdown run. Up 23 points to start the fourth quarter, Schmidt got into the end zone one more time – on a pass from Deutschman. Anoka added a field goal, and both teams added late touchdown passes to make the final score Anoka 52, Eagan 19. Next week Anoka (1-1) stays on the road to face Champlin Park while Eagan (0-2) welcomes Rosemont for the Irish’s first game of the season.