Saturday Afternoon Lights: Cambridge-Isanti vs. Waseca Recap
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I am so thankful there is Minnesota high school football. Not only that, how could you not feel grateful to be able to cover prep matchups two days in a row?! Life is good, and as I write this we are only a few minutes out from the ending of the exciting contest between the Waseca Bluejays vs. the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets hosted at Irondale High School in the suburbs of St. Paul. The game finished in a resounding Bluejay victory 54-18, but the game was hard-fought through four quarters and if it wasn’t for a tough 5 minutes to end the first half for Cambridge-Isanti, we may have had an entirely different ball game. With talented rosters on both teams, some of the more under-the-radar players really balled out and caught my attention, and there were some really exciting plays from both the Bluejays and the Bluejackets on both sides of the ball. Take a look below for the comprehensive recount of the ball game! Thanks for reading.
The heavyweight bout got off to a fast start as the blazing fast Tave Ball took the opening kickoff 80+ yards down to the 12-yard line of Cambridge-Isanti in an impressive burst of acceleration and vision. A few plays later on 4th and goal and QB Ryan Dufault hammered himself into the endzone for the first points of the game and with 9:45 left in the first the Bluejays were up 7-0. After receiving the kick-off, Cambridge-Isanti got going themselves with a hefty dose of UND commit
Gaven Ziebarth
Gaven
Ziebarth
6'0" | RB
Cambridge-Isanti | 2021
State
MN
as well as a couple hitch routes thrown well by QB
Connor Braaten
Connor
Braaten
6'4" | QB
Cambridge-Isanti | 2021
State
MN
. After converting a 4th down in the redzone CI was knocking at the door of the endzone, but Waseca held tough, and led by DL
Marcus Hansen
Marcus
Hansen
6'5" | DL
Waseca | 2021
State
MN
they were able to hold off the Bluejackets four straight downs inside the 10 and turned CI over on downs to regain possession of the ball. This must not have sat well with the Bluejackets though, as a couple plays later DE/TE Aleck Dee ran down a rolling Dufault for a safety in the endzone, and Cambridge-Isanti was on the board 7-2 and about to receive the ball. Waseca punted the ball back to Cambridge-Isanti, and they began running the ball again with Ziebarth as the first quarter clock expired. END OF 1: Waseca 7, Cambridge-Isanti 2
Hansen brought the juice for the first play of the second quarter, as he powered through the LOS to tackle Ziebarth and turn the Bluejackets over on downs. Waseca’s series fizzled out after a big hit defensively on 3rd down by CI’s Braden Jones, and they were forced to punt it back to CI. Jones turned into a beast after the hit, and caught two balls the ensuring series before getting open on a fade into the endzone where Braaten hit him right in the hands for a Bluejacket TD to take the lead 10-7 after Ziebarth ran in the 2pt conversion with 10:09 left in the half. Someone had something to say about that TD though, and that someone was the speedy Tave Ball. He returned the KO almost 90 yards to follow up CI’s TD with his second big kickoff return and his first TD of the year! Just like that, it was 15-10 Waseca. That TD was where things really began to go downhill for Cambridge-Isanti, as Waseca stopped their ensuing offensive drive, then made a nice journey down the field themselves thanks to Ball’s speed being utilized as a RB, and ended up kicking a FG to go up 18-10 with 6:22 left in the half. The Bluejackets wanted to throw the ball, but a couple incompletions later and they found themselves needing to punt again with barely any time being taken off the clock. Waseca took advantage and when they got the ball back Dufault nickeled and dimed himself down the field with QB keepers and ran it in for his second TD of the game with 2:54 left in the half. Waseca had built a comfortable 25-10 lead, but they weren’t done yet. Cambridge-Isanti fizzled out themselves the next drive and were forced to punt. Sadly for the Bluejackets,
Kyreese Willingham
Kyreese
Willingham
6'5" | WR
Waseca | 2021
State
MN
was back there to return the punt for Waseca, and he made an extremely athletic return that basically involved him sprinting down the sideline before any Bluejacket defenders could get the angle, and he dove into the endzone through contact for yet another Bluejays second quarter TD as well as their second special teams TD of the day. It was looking bleak for Cambridge-Isanti, but luckily Braaten found the ultra-impressive Jones in the back of the endzone - where he made a fantastic adjustment to the football and tapped both feet inbounds - on the last play of the half to keep some life in CI. Ziebarth ran in his second 2pt conversion as well. END OF TWO: Waseca 33, Cambridge-Isanti 18
There was still a lot of ballgame left as the second half kicked off, but Waseca wanted to make sure they gave CI no chance to recover and used QB Dufault to march down the field at the beginning of the 3rd where he scored his 3rd rushing TD of the day with 8:21 left in the quarter to go up 40-18. After that, a noticeable deflation of energy happened to the Bluejackets, and although they kept fighting things did seem a little too out-of-reach for CI. The rest of the quarter was highlighted by Dufault running in his fourth TD of the day for a 47-18 Waseca lead, and Braden Jones doing his best on both sides of the ball to try and help his team comeback. END OF THREE: Waseca 47, Cambridge-Isanti 18
The fourth quarter was still very much an exciting one, as Jones made a beautiful backshoulder catch for 50+ yards from Braaten that the refs called incomplete, as well as some nice tackling from Cambridge-Isanti's Adam Hamed, who must have recorded nearly 20 tackles for the Bluejackets defense. Waseca scored one more time this quarter on a drive by their #32 who I could not find on the roster, and that score of 54-18 in-favor of Waseca is how the game ended. FINAL: Waseca Bluejays 54, Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets 18
Stay tuned for the upcoming "Players of the Game" feature here on PrepRedzoneMN!
Marcus
Hansen
6'5" | DL
Waseca | 2021
State
MN
they were able to hold off the Bluejackets four straight downs inside the 10 and turned CI over on downs to regain possession of the ball. This must not have sat well with the Bluejackets though, as a couple plays later DE/TE Aleck Dee ran down a rolling Dufault for a safety in the endzone, and Cambridge-Isanti was on the board 7-2 and about to receive the ball. Waseca punted the ball back to Cambridge-Isanti, and they began running the ball again with Ziebarth as the first quarter clock expired. END OF 1: Waseca 7, Cambridge-Isanti 2
Hansen brought the juice for the first play of the second quarter, as he powered through the LOS to tackle Ziebarth and turn the Bluejackets over on downs. Waseca’s series fizzled out after a big hit defensively on 3rd down by CI’s Braden Jones, and they were forced to punt it back to CI. Jones turned into a beast after the hit, and caught two balls the ensuring series before getting open on a fade into the endzone where Braaten hit him right in the hands for a Bluejacket TD to take the lead 10-7 after Ziebarth ran in the 2pt conversion with 10:09 left in the half. Someone had something to say about that TD though, and that someone was the speedy Tave Ball. He returned the KO almost 90 yards to follow up CI’s TD with his second big kickoff return and his first TD of the year! Just like that, it was 15-10 Waseca. That TD was where things really began to go downhill for Cambridge-Isanti, as Waseca stopped their ensuing offensive drive, then made a nice journey down the field themselves thanks to Ball’s speed being utilized as a RB, and ended up kicking a FG to go up 18-10 with 6:22 left in the half. The Bluejackets wanted to throw the ball, but a couple incompletions later and they found themselves needing to punt again with barely any time being taken off the clock. Waseca took advantage and when they got the ball back Dufault nickeled and dimed himself down the field with QB keepers and ran it in for his second TD of the game with 2:54 left in the half. Waseca had built a comfortable 25-10 lead, but they weren’t done yet. Cambridge-Isanti fizzled out themselves the next drive and were forced to punt. Sadly for the Bluejackets,
Kyreese Willingham
Kyreese
Willingham
6'5" | WR
Waseca | 2021
State
MN
was back there to return the punt for Waseca, and he made an extremely athletic return that basically involved him sprinting down the sideline before any Bluejacket defenders could get the angle, and he dove into the endzone through contact for yet another Bluejays second quarter TD as well as their second special teams TD of the day. It was looking bleak for Cambridge-Isanti, but luckily Braaten found the ultra-impressive Jones in the back of the endzone - where he made a fantastic adjustment to the football and tapped both feet inbounds - on the last play of the half to keep some life in CI. Ziebarth ran in his second 2pt conversion as well. END OF TWO: Waseca 33, Cambridge-Isanti 18
There was still a lot of ballgame left as the second half kicked off, but Waseca wanted to make sure they gave CI no chance to recover and used QB Dufault to march down the field at the beginning of the 3rd where he scored his 3rd rushing TD of the day with 8:21 left in the quarter to go up 40-18. After that, a noticeable deflation of energy happened to the Bluejackets, and although they kept fighting things did seem a little too out-of-reach for CI. The rest of the quarter was highlighted by Dufault running in his fourth TD of the day for a 47-18 Waseca lead, and Braden Jones doing his best on both sides of the ball to try and help his team comeback. END OF THREE: Waseca 47, Cambridge-Isanti 18
The fourth quarter was still very much an exciting one, as Jones made a beautiful backshoulder catch for 50+ yards from Braaten that the refs called incomplete, as well as some nice tackling from Cambridge-Isanti's Adam Hamed, who must have recorded nearly 20 tackles for the Bluejackets defense. Waseca scored one more time this quarter on a drive by their #32 who I could not find on the roster, and that score of 54-18 in-favor of Waseca is how the game ended. FINAL: Waseca Bluejays 54, Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets 18
Stay tuned for the upcoming "Players of the Game" feature here on PrepRedzoneMN!
