Insider Info: Drake Teal on Johnson vs. Central

Oliver West September 18, 2019 @ 02:17 AM

After a historic win last Friday versus arch-rival Central, the first win for the Governors over the Minutemen in 11 years, Northstar Football News was lucky enough to get an exclusive analysis of the St. Paul Johnson vs. St. Paul Central from 6'5, 215 lb. 2020 DE/TE Drake Teal of St. Paul Johnson. Let's see what the senior has to say about the impressive 33-0 win last Friday night. Recount the game in your own words, pregame, big plays, big players, and the overall flow of the game, as well as your personal performance: Drake Teal: "Mannnnnnnn we was having fun last night! At the start of the game, there was trash talking between both sides, but of course because it’s Johnson vs Central! Our defense played out of our minds. Shut out Central; and did it with 3 picks (1 pick 6), 2 forced fumbles, (5 turnovers) and plenty of huge hits and plays. We came out with lots of energy on both sides of the ball, and our quarterback Jovanni Gonzales (5'11, 175 lb.) finally caught fire. He had a 75 yard touchdown run, and 2 touchdown passes, over 120 rushing yards and around 50 passing yards. Joey Moberg (5'11, 200 lb.) was electrifying as usual, getting a touchdown on the ground and 2 picks; one to the house. That kid can ball. He’s one of those spark plugs that when he gets out and makes a big play, it makes us all want to do the same. Our kicker/WR1 had a huge night with 2 touchdown receptions and about 40 yards rec. A sophomore who started for the first time: Keelahni Cummings; was HUGE. He plays MLB and had snot bubbling hits left and right. He accounted for at least 10 on his own. Our whole o-line created crazy space and time for Joey and Jovanni, and we’re playmakers without getting on the scoresheet. Overall, it was a huge game for the team, and for the program. First time beating Central since 2008. I didn’t know forsure how I was gonna be going into the game, but ended up being able to go at it 100% nonstop. I couldn’t have done it with out the energy from my teammates on and off the sidelines, the energy was electric. I ended up with a sack, 2 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 6 tackles in total. This win couldn’t have come at any better time, beating our rivals for our first win of the season. This was huge for Johnson football. What does this rivalry mean to you and the Governors? Growing up in St. Paul, what do you remember about these rivalries and what do they mean to you? Especially considering how the conferences are split up right now and you don’t necessarily play every STP team every year. How are you feeling about your season thus far, are you getting any feedback from coaches so far, and what are some big games coming up for you and Johnson? Drake Teal: Beating Central is huge for us, not only because they’re our rivals, but because we grew up playing with AND against those boys. We go way back with all of them, so it feels even more personal. The Johnson vs. Central games were always the most fun to go to as a kid, because I remembered the atmosphere and how much fun I had from the bleachers. Not only was it huge for us players, but the coaches wanted to beat them just as bad. The last time we won was when one of our coaches was a player, so we’ve felt this losing streak throughout. This momentum WILL carry on. This win has changed the mood instantly, and I think that we will ride this high for as long as we can! We can’t look past anyone at this point though, as we have two more St. Paul teams in our next two games: Highland and Como. We finish the season with three huge games against MPLS South, Southwest and St. Anthony, all VERY quality opponents and should all be huge games for both teams. We’re definatly looking forward to each and every one of these games, each for their own reason. Going to be an exciting rest of the ‘19 season for the Govs.