Daytime high school football is so refreshing, it's a shame it does not happen more often. Obviously we can see the action so much better. It's safe for the visiting fans to do their driving home at a reasonable and comfortable hour. I'm surprised more isn't said about that aspect.
Think of those times when we had a basketball or volleyball team advance far enough to play games at Southwest State, Marshall. That's a fur piece away if I may use slang. You'd better be well-rested when going to a game like that. I doubt that everyone is, plus we all get emotionally drained.
Well, that's a pretty involved intro to this piece which will shed light on the Tigers' Saturday win over Perham in football. The 32-8 win avenged the loss we'd previously been dealt by those Yellowjackets. Neat nickname and mascot for Perham, IMHO. I like some of the unconventional names. Consider "Vandals" for U of Idaho. A little edgy, that one.
We're so totally safe in Morris with "Tigers" and "Cougars." No political corrections issues, ever. Contrast that with Benson still sticking to the Native American/Indian imagery. Are we still waiting for answers from the Native American groups on whether Benson can keep its antiquated approach to nickname/imagery? Maybe there will be no formal answer. Maybe Benson is being left to "twist in the wind."
Benson should have done something pro-active a long time ago just out of basic good sense. Who gives a rip about a school's nickname for sports anyway? Do we even need nicknames and mascots? Is it a little juvenile?
Taking charge in Perham
Well, our football coaching staff wisely drew up a run-oriented attack to remove the stingers from the Yellowjackets. It was a game played in the beautiful daylight hours in Perham. I remember the days when I, as a newspaper rep made trips to Graceville for daylight games. I'd be covering C-A or Hancock. Ah, the glorious days of C-A football with Neal Hofland at the helm calling for his "toss sweep" play. It was like the old "Green Bay sweep," a defining play. I remind Neal of those days when seeing him at DeToy's Restaurant.
Our rushing attack asserted itself early on Saturday. My, what a different complexion for this game compared to the previous meeting. Our Tigers took charge at the line of scrimmage. Thus the game was a reversal of what happened the previous time around.
Was Perham out-coached? The Tigers amassed 367 rushing yards in disposing of the Yelllowjackets in front of their stunned fans. This was a Section 8AAA semi-final game.
MACA truly meant business right from the start, right out of the starting gate. The Perham coach bemoaned ten days with no game for his team, due to a bye. The coach said he noticed a lack of intensity early. The Tigers seized the opportunity and never looked back. We succeeded from the get-go with a drive of eight plays capped by a 22-yard run by our quarterback Drew Huebner. Huebner went to work carrying the football again on the conversion play. Two more points.
My, things went downhill fast for the host team. Perham's second play on offense brought an interception. Blaiz Schmidt was the QB who got picked. Riley Asmus was the Tiger in the right place to capitalize. Not only did Riley intercept, he was off to the races for 38 yards and the Tigers' second touchdown!
Only four minutes had elapsed in this game when Tiger fans could look up at the scoreboard and see a 14-0 lead for our heroes.
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| The Perham symbol |
The Yellowjackets summoned an offensive push but had a drive end with a failed fourth down play. The play went awry with a pass deflection. Our offensive unit trotted back out and was not going to be complacent with our lead. Oh no.
So our spirited group went to work on a drive of 86 yards! The drive exhausted over seven minutes. Owen Anderson capped it with a TD carry from the one. A failed conversion play left the score 26-0!
Garbage time now? Whatever, the complexion of the game remained the same with Perham experiencing futility. So there was an interception. Perham did get the ball back pretty promptly due to a Tiger fumble. It didn't matter as the Yellowjackets were forced to punt again. The Tigers worked to find paydirt again. When it rains it pours.
I'm so happy the MACA fans could enjoy all this in pleasant midday daylight when the temperature is bound to be higher too. I took a walk out along our biking/walking trail, perfect conditions for that. Saw the Rentz's out there.
MACA fans really enjoyed a big play pass that padded our lead. So it was Huebner connecting with Asmus: 40 yards. We're leading 32-0 with about a minute left in the first half! Did we really lose to Perham previously?
Perham scored its only TD of the game on an 87-yard kickoff return. Gage Aanenson made the return. Perham got the two-point conversion.
There's a whole half left to play? Well yes. The Tigers burned up a lot of clock. Neither team scored in the second half. MACA fans could return home at a reasonable hour.
It is Sunday morning as I write this. What's the top sports story on the Stevens County Times website? Well it's about UMM. I scroll down and I see nothing but UMM headlines. Are these the only teams we're supposed to care about here in Morris? Evidently that's what the Stevens County Times thinks. Does anyone besides me think this is strange or objectionable? Does anyone inquire with the paper about it? What does the paper say about it? What excuses do they have?
Is this asking so much, to show a little effort to keep people current on MACA sports? Doesn't the paper make money selling advertising?
The radio station's website is not nearly as effective as it was when Brett Miller regularly typed updates. I am really going to miss his work. The radio station sells advertising too.
BTW if I was a Perham fan, not sure I'd buy the explanation that the ten-day layoff from games left the team hopelessly deflated. Rest is supposed to help football players. I'd wonder if the coach didn't prepare his team properly.
MACA vs. Perham, October 13 at Morris: Perham 21, Tigers 6
MACA vs. Perham, October at Perham: Tigers 32, Perham 8
Our success puts us in the section championship game. Good news: it'll be indoors. Bad news: quite late starting time. According to the High School League site, we're matched against Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton at 8 p.m. on November 3. The site: Fargodome.
Volleyball advances
Our MACA volleyball Tigers not only won on Friday, it was by sweep. the Tigers advanced in the opening round of Section 3AA-North play here in Motown. We're seeded No. 4. We swept Litchfield who had the No. 5 seed.
A sweep win ought to bolster confidence for the squad. Scores were 25-22, 25-19 and 25-20.
Brianna Marty pounded out ten kills. Our W/L now is 9-15. Now we're matched against top seed Paynesville. Match-time is 7 p.m. Tuesday, yes Halloween, at P-ville. Boo!
Thanks for reading
Thanks and God bless to all visitors to my journalism sites. A reminder that I have two of these. The other is called "Morris of Course" and sports updates occasionally are posted there. I have two sites to deal with those times when sports gets really busy. I always have an "alternate" site for posting non-sports material, like politics maybe?
Below is the permalink for my post on "Morris of Course" about the Tigers' 21-12 win over the Fergus Falls Otters on Oct. 18. Beautiful "rainbow pass" from Huebner to Asmus in that one. I was there!
More on the media
Lately I have taken the Morris newspaper to task rather often for not doing more on MACA on its website. It is totally clear that the paper does not even try. You should know that many papers choose to do more on their websites!
One of the better examples I could cite is by my old newspaper colleague/compatriot Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley. He has some fine sports teams to write about there. Sometimes I "piggy-back" on his coverage, not that I can do any better. But it's fun being associated with high school extracurricular. You could say it has been a lifeblood of mine, now for over 50 years! Yes and I'm quite proud of that.
Below I quote a portion of an email I received from the genial Mr. Olson this morning (Sunday). It is informative for how newspapers can serve their communities with their websites.
Hello Brian, how about that!
Good for MA/CA to get past Perham's Yellowjackets. (That's a fun mascot name by the way.)
Here's a pretty full recap of B-B-E's destruction of the ACGC Falcons today:
I have a few more tweaks to add to the post, but that may not happen until Sunday after I do a more thorough review of my game notes.
I don't know why more newspapers don't give better online coverage than they do at least in playoff games. This is absolutely crucial for any media organization. Think about it this way: I don't publish until next Wednesday. This was a Saturday game. Why would I not at least give some type of recap and info of today's game? Why hold onto it for "X/Y/Z" number of days?
My printed paper has plenty of value in it. I can add coach and player interview material plus my best action shots. So much more I do in print...my websites do not compete with my printed version. They are one unit. It all works together to share information with the public. That is how it needs to be done in the electronic communication age.
No ESP needed
Obviously the Morris paper ownership wants the public to buy the paper product. But the paper product only comes out once a week, a huge negative.
Gophers on my podcast
I reflect on the U of M Gophers' Saturday football win over Michigan State on my "Morris Mojo" podcast. The announcer on kmrs yesterday talked about the Gophers playing "Michigan." Believe me, there is a difference between Michigan State and Michigan! The link for my podcast:
Addendum: I admit it is totally strange that I feel pressure writing about our Tiger teams online. It might be an old habit from when I actually wrote for the corporate media. Something I cannot unlearn. Right now it's 11:30 Sunday as I steadily assemble today's post, and as always I'm a little nervous: how would the public assess this? Did I screw up anywhere?
Sports info can be pretty involved to process. Football games can be very involved. But why do I feel pressure? No one expects me to do this. Do you suppose anyone with the newspaper feels pressure on this Sunday to do anything at all? For their website? Click on the sports link there. See what you see. Anyone feeling nervous with the paper?
I personally feel nervous because I want to do a good and timely job. And none of this is for money, Kemosabe! I have some old detractors in this community who would never say anything positive about me. I was once a well-known skeptic of the public school teachers union. I have no regrets.
The good news is that the public school system is in far better shape with a far better attitude today. There's still a union but I think it serves more of a constructive function. Also, the school's management people behave truly like management now, unlike 30 or 40 years ago. On the whole I feel very good about our Morris school system. But it hasn't always been like that. The 1980s were a morass of cynicism and defensiveness. I was there.
- Brian Willliams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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