MPLS Matchup: Southwest vs. North Recap/Players of the Game

Coming into the contest two days ago pitting the best Southside Minneapolis high school team vs. the best Northside Minneapolis squad, the Minneapolis Southwest Lakers stood at 4-1 coming off a big win vs. Richfield and an emotionally thrilling 17-14 victory over Southside rival Washburn. Their opponents: the North Polars, had been putting up a ton of points and also only had one loss in their record, having lost to the #1 ranked 4A team Fridley the week before. It was set to be a hard-hitting, physical contest with impressive speed in each sides defensive backfield and tough RBs set to carry the offensive load of each team on their shoulders. In the ensuing 48 minutes of grind-it-out football, the North Polars took control of the city of Minneapolis and ground and pounded their way to a 22-0 victory utilizing a mauling offensive line and the best RB in Minnesota  Terrance Kamara Terrance Kamara 5'9" | RB Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN and a not too shabby performance from his backfield counterpart Elisha Jackson Jr., as well as explosive plays from the duo of QB  Terrance Kamara Terrance Kamara 5'9" | RB Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN  and 2022 WR  Mario Sanders Mario Sanders 5'10" | 180 lbs | WR MPLS North | 2022 State MN . The Southwest Lakers, despite a talented roster with workhorse RB/LB  Nick Flaskamp Nick Flaskamp LB Minneapolis Southwest | 2021 State MN  and playmaking DB/WRs  Marcus Mattox Marcus Mattox DB Minneapolis Southwest | 2021 State MN  and  Jaden Reed Jaden Reed WR Minneapolis Southwest | 2021 State MN , could not muster any offensive consistency, putting a stingy defense on the field far too often. Let’s get a more detailed recount of the game below, and find out who earned themselves a PrepRedzoneMN Game Ball for a Player of the Game performance. Thanks for reading!

Big plays set the tone of the game from the jump, as  Marcus Mattox Marcus Mattox DB Minneapolis Southwest | 2021 State MN  made a perfect read on an intermediate seam route towards the middle of the field for a Southwest interception on North’s first offensive drive. However, the fast and athletic Polars defense used a menacing defensive line led by seniors  Darnell McCrea Darnell McCrea DL Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2021 State MN  and  Davon Townley Davon Townley 6'6" | DL Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN  & junior Chester Watley Chester Watley 6'4" | 300 lbs | OL MPLS North | 2022 State MN  to gain relentless penetration to suffocate the Lakers rushing attack, which is the foundation of their offense. North regained offensive possession and pushed downfield using the legs of Kamara to set up a 30-yard connection between Yeager and Sanders for the first points of the game. After a successful 2pt conversion the score stood at 8-0, and remained there as the first quarter expired. END OF ONE: North 8, Southwest 0

North forced another quick punt and continued to force themselves into Laker territory to begin the second quarter, but the Lakers never quit fighting and with their backs to their endzone they forced a 4th and goal where the state’s INT leader  Jaden Reed Jaden Reed WR Minneapolis Southwest | 2021 State MN  made a sweet pick to get Southwest right back into the ballgame. The excitement was short-lived however as offensive woes and inconsistencies proved too much to overcome and North once again had the ball. They were eating up a ridiculous amount of clock using sideline throws from Yeager and tough yards on the ground from Kamara, and after a well-executed screen to Elisha Jackson Jr. got the Polars deep inside Laker territory where Kamara finished the drive off with style, and after another successful 2pt conversion the score stood at Polars 16, Lakers 0 at halftime in North Minneapolis.

The second half was eerily similar in fashion to the first, as suffocating defense and rushing kept the ball out of the hands of the Lakers offense, and North used efficient play-calling and decision-making to keep a steady hold on the lead. The third quarter remained scoreless as outstanding single-play efforts from North’s  Davon Townley Davon Townley 6'6" | DL Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN and Southwest’s Flaskamp saved potential TD runs from both sides. Yeager again found Sanders to start the fourth quarter off for the final TD of the day, and two-way lineman  Darnell McCrea Darnell McCrea DL Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2021 State MN  got put in as a Wildcat QB for the last 2pt conversion of the day in an intriguing plus-sized goal line package from the Polars. As the final whistle blew the score finished at 22-0 in favor of North. Despite the shutout the Lakers kept fighting every single snap, and there was never a dull moment or a soft tackle for all 48 minutes. Scroll below for the Player of the Game awards from PrepRedzoneMN!

Offensive Players of the Game

North Polar Offensive Line of:  Darnell McCrea Darnell McCrea DL Benilde-St. Margaret's | 2021 State MN (6’, 260), Chester Watley Chester Watley 6'4" | 300 lbs | OL MPLS North | 2022 State MN (2022 – 6’3, 309), John Collins Jr. John Collins Jr. OL Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN (6’, 295), Jordan Quiyon (2022 – 6’1, 285), Charles Shedd, and TE  Davon Townley Davon Townley 6'6" | DL Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN (6’7, 245). This by no means discredits 2021 UNI runningback commit  Terrance Kamara Terrance Kamara 5'9" | RB Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN , who is a powerful runner with burst, vision, patience, and toughness and had a heckuva game last week, but the OL was killing it. The Southwest Lakers were not putting out chumps on their DL, but North was overwhelming in their run-blocking that it was just entirely too easy for TK to get to the second level. All of these lineman are tough, strong, and well-built, and most of them get reps on both sides of the football as well. They are all legit college OL prospects and I hope to see them all sign somewhere when the time comes.

Zach Yeager Zach Yeager 6'2" | QB Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN (North) QB. 6’2, 205. The North Carolina A&T quarterback commit showed off a lot arm talent in the game and really only had one bad throw the entire night. I got to see Yeager play against Southwest last year as well, and the growth from then to now has been really noteworthy. The arm strength is there no doubt, as he can hit 3 and 5 step drop throws on inside or outside breaking routes with no problem. What I was really excited to see was the improvement in accuracy. Yeager was putting the ball on the money when he could set his feet, and threw it into some tight windows on the bigger passing plays of the night. He’s a heckuva HBCU quarterback prospect and it’s been a pleasure watching him play and rep Minneapolis.

Elisha Jackson Jr. (North) RB/ 5’10, 180 lbs. The Polars #6 was a pleasant surprise on the evening and showed up in a ton of way for the Polars. As a RB he was a physical ball-carrier with great burst who knew how to navigate in the open-field and through or around tacklers. He stepped in and played a ton of different roles for North, and as a senior someone needs to hop in on his recruitment.

Nick Flaskamp Nick Flaskamp LB Minneapolis Southwest | 2021 State MN  (Southwest) RB/LB. 5’11, 210 lbs. The two-way standout is such a strong and aggressive football player that it translates seamlessly to the running back position. There were times that Flaskamp would put his head down and get a full head of a steam running the rock that he looked like a purple and white freight train on the gridiron. It just simply looked like it would stink to try and tackle him, and if he was going against any other football team besides the Polars there would be a lot more broken tackles. Flaskamp recently grabbed his first D1 offer from Drake, and I’m more than pumped to see where he plays in college.

Defensive Players of the Game

Davon Townley Davon Townley 6'6" | DL Minneapolis North | 2021 State MN  (North) DE. 6’7, 245 lbs. Minnesota’s #1 unranked prospect showed out defensively all four quarters and used his overwhelming length and athleticism to affect the run and pass game of the opposing Lakers. He was unstoppable when rushing the Laker QB and was a one man wrecking crew as a pass-rusher, basically shutting down any chance of a Southwest passing attack. What I was most excited to see though was Townley’s effort in the run game for the Polar defense. There were multiple times that he ran down Flaskamp from across the field to prevent big gains, and at 6’7, 245 lbs. he could go sideline to sideline when a lot more ease than I was anticipating. He’s just a tremendous athlete and an obvious Power5 prospect.

Zashon Rich (North) DB. 2024. The freshman defensive back prospect was a playmaker all night and showed natural ball skills and an impressive vert. He’s well-built as well and is getting serious tick as a 14 year old on one of Minnesota’s most talented teams. Lot of good football in front of this young man!

Special Teams Player of the Game

Landon Ramons (Southwest) K/P. The Laker specialist has a legitimately strong leg and helped keep the Lakers defense in good positions against a potent North offense all night. He can do it all: kickoff, kick FGs and PATs, punt, and helped keep the Lakers in ball game.