Down double digits, Chanhassen stormed back to win

Brian Jerzak

October 16, 2021 @ 12:02 AM

When stripped down to the essentials, the defensive game plan for the Chanhassen Storm Friday night was simple – stop Holy Angels’ star running back . For most of the game, they did a much better job than anyone else the Stars have played all season. They did such a good job – it almost cost them the game. Down 11 points at the half, the Storm made adjustments on both sides of the ball and came – pardon the pun – came storming back in the second half to win 31-21. With everyone in the stadium – except the eleven Stars’ offensive starters and some of the Stars’ coaches – expecting Johnson to get the ball to open the game, the Stars threw deep on play one. It worked to perfection. Stars quarterback threw a deep strike to Charles Gilbert for 50 yards. Johnson was in the end zone three plays later, and the home team had a 7-0 lead. The Stars got the ball back, and with the Chan defense having all eleven players within ten yards of the line of scrimmage to stop Johnson, Boarman and Gilbert made the Storm defense pay again. This time they picked up 35 yards – flipping field position. A bad shotgun snap would short circuit the drive, but the Chan defense was on its heels. The Stars’ defense was moving in reverse behind some strong running by Storm running back , but when they got in the red zone, Johnson came up from his safety spot and forced a fumble. Holy Angels recovered the fumble inside its own ten to keep the Storm off the scoreboard. Both defenses played well for most of the first half, but Chanhassen put together a drive late in the second quarter. They used the running of Woods and a deep ball to do everything to get into a goal-to-goal situation. Big plays by a trio of Stars defenders, Jacob Pung, , and , stalled the drive in the red zone. The Storm would settle for a 22-yard field goal by Dmitry McDougle. The Stars would strike back immediately. Terrence Roberts made a quick cut as he got to his blockers on the kickoff, got down the sidelines, and set the Stars up in the red zone. Then, Johnson’s speed got him around the corner – picking up a first down on third and eight. The Storm almost got to the half down four, but on fourth and goal from the four-yard line. Gilbert would continue his huge first half catching a fade in the end zone to give his team a 14-3 lead at the half. "It was a rough first half, Coenen said. "We didn’t score much, but in the second half, we were able to put some points on the board. We had more effort in the second half and were motivated to get back in the game." "They came out passing, and we weren’t ready for that, but we got our coverage under control. We pretty much shut all their options down," linebacker Gabe Porthan said. "It was a battle. They are a strong team, but we were able to put together a game plan to take care of them." Chanhassen came out flying in the second half. On the first play of the second half, quarterback threw deep to Coenen, and the senior hauled in the pass for a 76-yard touchdown. After the teams traded turnovers, the Stars had good field position, and they took advantage of it. Johnson had his best drive of the game. Mainly behind his running – including a 12-yard touchdown run on 4th and 1, Johnson and the Stars took expanded their lead back to eleven points 21-10. Unfortunately for the home fans, the Stars wouldn’t score again. The Storm wasted no time getting back into the game. Muffenbier threw a quick pass into the flat to . The junior receiver made a quick move to shed a defender, and he was off to the races. Fifty-six yards later, Chanhassen had a first and goal inside the five. Porthan would punch in a touchdown from three yards out. With their offense clicking, the defense took over. They kept Johnson largely bottled up, but now, they were getting after the receivers too. After a punt, Muffenbier and Coenen hooked up again. Coenen used a double move to get free on a deep corner route for a 36-yard touchdown catch. "I am proud of our guys, being down eleven points twice and coming out to score 28 second-half points and hold them to seven with some stops in our own territory," Storm head coach Cullen Nelson said. After a long kick return by Johnson, the Chanhassen defense came up huge again. Down for the first time, the Stars tried to convert on a fourth and three at the 35-yard line. The Storm defense stopped Johnson just short of the first down. The physical, bigger offensive line of Chanhassen pounded on the Stars all game, and it started to pay off. Coenen would cap off the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run. After a fourth and five pass was deflected by Storm defensive back Kurt Schaefer – Chanhassen was able to grind out a couple of first downs to run out the clock and preserve a 31-21 victory.