Rebels Come Up One Game Short Of A State Title

Wes Vork-NSO

Click here for the complete game box score

For additional photos click here to view our complete photo gallery

Nov 25, 2011

Wes Vork-NSO

It is said that without a lot of expectations, there isn’t a lot of disappointment and the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment. Such was the case with the Moose Lake-Willow River football team on Friday. The Rebels came within one game of the lofty goal of winning a state championship; but fell to Caledonia by a score of 27-0. And, although the team’s great disappointments were evident, they handled it with the utmost of class and respect for their opponents and displayed what high school sports are, or should be all about.

A smothering Caledonia defense held the Rebels to 111 yards of rushing and 118 yards of total offense. Still the Rebels forced three turnovers and kept the game close at 13-0 for most of the contest before eventually falling to the Warriors, winners of four of the last five state Class AA titles.

“It’s so much work to get to this point, the weightlifting in the summer time, participating in other sports, the staying active. We work to build team chemistry and view it as a big family so when you lose in the state championship game it’s always hard to take.” Moose Lake-Willow River Head Coach Dave Louzek stated after the game. “But give them a couple of days and they will realize they had a great season and have nothing to be ashamed of, they have no regrets.”

The contest started like a heavyweight boxing match with the defense of both teams answering the bell in a scoreless first quarter. Caledonia got on the board first with an 8 play 87 yard drive capped off with an 11 yard touchdown grab by Adam Drenckhahn. After an Austin Goergen kick the Warriors led 7-0.

Just when it looked like the Rebels would be able to hit the locker room down just 7-0 and regroup; Drenckhahn made an acrobatic 33 yard catch which set Caledonia up in business at the one yard line. From there Connor McCormick rushed in for a 1 yard touchdown and after a failed extra point the score stood at 13-0 going into the break.

ML-WR’s best scoring chance came when they got to the Warriors one yard line on an 18 play 76 yard drive that used up two thirds of the third quarter. However the Caledonia defense held on two consecutive plays from the one yard line forcing the Rebels to turn the ball over on downs. Two late scores by Caledonia put the game out of reach and made the final score look a lot more lopsided than the contest actually was.

Still the more than competitive performance in the title game could well be viewed as another step forward to winning a state title. “It’s amazing how the team supports each other, not only these seniors, but all the players. Commented Coach Louzek after the game. “They don’t shrug their shoulders, they don’t give into adversity. They fought through four quarters here in a very tough ballgame.”

Chris Gassert finished as the Rebels leading rusher on the day with only 46 yards; but perhaps his most impressive run came after the game was over. Gassert finished the game on the sidelines along with his fellow teammates while the
backups ran out the clock. But when the final horn sounded, Gassert sprinted about 40 yards to be at the front of the handshake line along with fellow captain Peder Xiong to lead his team in congratulating the Warriors,
a move
that impressed his head coach.

“It really shows the kind of character these kids have; they just got beat by the best double “A” school in the state of Minnesota. For a senior to go out that way it makes me very proud of him as a coach; to know that he didn’t hang back and slump his shoulders but rather go out and congratulate
(Caledonia) for the great job they did.” Commented Louzek.

The Rebels finish up the season playing a total of 14 football games, winning 13 of them including their seventh consecutive Section 7AA title. Although they lose a total of 13 seniors, some of whom made huge contributions to the program; the Rebels do return their leading rusher Jake Disterhaupt, who rushed for over 2200 yards as well as quarterback Tony Adamczak and several key lineman. So while their success would be off the charts when measured using anyone else’s measuring stick, look for them to get another shot of completing the goal of winning a state championship next year. Perhaps the third time’s a charm.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com