Mission accomplished. We put this game in the win column with a flourish: a 48-26 final score. So we're now 5-2. The visiting Streeters fell to 1-6. I remember Sauk Centre being a very tough opponent when I was in high school, early '70s. They had an all-state quarterback named Loren Beste.
Our first touchdown Friday was scored by Camden Arndt who turned into a marquee type of performer. Arndt got past the end zone stripe on a 20-yard pass reception. Durgin Decker threw that pass. That's a new name for me to incorporate in my sportswriting. Welcome Durgin. Riley's brother? Eli Grove kicked the point-after.
Sauk Centre kept the game close for a time. Irvin Brenes broke loose on a 53-yard TD run for the Streeters. Then it was Arndt scoring for MACA on a one-yard run, and Grove kicked the PAT. Anthony Marsh answered for the visitor, covering 28 yards on a run for six. Sauk Centre failed on its two-point conversion plays in the first quarter. The quarter ended with MACA up 14-12.
On to quarter No. 2 where the Tigers ruled. Here they come: Matt McNeill scored on a run from the one. Grove kicked the PAT. Jaret Johnson caught a 30-yard touchdown pass for six, bringing cheers again from the MACA partisans. Decker put the ball in the air. Grove was workmanlike again on the kick. Arndt, who rolled up 166 rushing yards on the night, ran the ball in from the six. Grove added the point-after.
In the third: it was Kenny Soderberg bringing the "touchdown" sign from the refs with his 20-yard punt return. Grove was automatic on the kick. Our final TD on the night was by Jack Riley: a six-yard run.
Sauk Centre scored twice in the fourth quarter, with their TDs by Brenes (a run from the two) and Jackson Berscheid (an eight-yard scamper). A pass for two was good after one of these scores.
Sauk Centre actually outdid us in first downs, 24-20.
We had lots of contributors in the rushing department, led by Arndt with his 166 yards on just nine carries - quite the stats. Jack Riley rolled up 41 yards on the ground in just four carries. Colten Scheldorf picked up 33 yards on three. Matt McNeill's numbers: seven carries, 22 yards. Adding to the mix were Kenny Soderberg, Tristan Raths and Durgin Decker.
Decker completed five passes in eight attempts for 92 yards and had one interception. Johnson put his arm to work to complete two of two in passing for 17 yards, no INTs. Here's the receiving list: Johnson (two catches, 58 yards), Riley (two catches, 17 yards), Arndt (1-20), Scheldorf (1-9) and Mace Yellow (1-5). Cameron Koebernick made an interception.
The Streeters showed a well-balanced running attack with these three fellows standing out: Irvin Brenes (117 yards), Jackson Berscheid (96) and Anthony Marsh (82). Casey Schirmers managed just one pass completion in six attempts for 16 yards and had none intercepted. Riley Gritz had the reception. Macoy Thiesen made an interception for Sauk Centre.
Volleyball: Tigers 3, Sauk Centre 2
The volleyball court had the orange and black in action at Sauk Centre on Thursday. The Tigers got up 2-0 for a time, then their momentum faded to cause a 2-2 deadlock, setting the stage for the deciding fifth game. We won! We wrested the momentum back to take the decider 15-11 and put this hard-fought match away 3-2. It was our 15th triumph of the season.
It was a win truly to be savored because Sauk Centre has a premier reputation. The loss for the Streeters was just their second of the season, compared to a rich harvest of 24 wins. What could be more encouraging with the post-season so near?
Four Tigers each came at the Streeters with one serving ace: Bailey Marty, Kenzie Hockel, LeAndra Hormann and Liz Dietz. The setting work was spread out a little more than usual with Dietz posting the team-best 19 assists. LaRae Kram executed 17 assists. Riley Decker performed seven, and Hockel and Kenzie Stahman each had one. In hitting it was Hockel setting the pace with 19 kills. Then it was Marty coming through with 15 and Lexi Pew with 13. The list also includes Jen Solvie (4), Sophie Carlsen (3) and Dietz (1).
Pew had two ace blocks followed by Solvie and Carlsen each with one. Decker stood out in digs like she often does, performing 35. Here's the rest of that list: Marty (26), Kram (14), Hockel (11), Dietz (10) and Macey Libbesmeier (7).
For the Streeters, Tori Peschel performed three serving aces. Megan Klaphake was the busy setter with 34 assists. The hitting department saw Nicole Kortan and Peschel each get 16 kills. Miranda Middendorf was sharp at the net with seven ace blocks. (It's nice to see the Middendorf name still in Sauk Centre athletics). Reece Ritter was the top Streeter in digs with 24.
Forum Communications schizophrenia?
You cannot trust tried and true Republicans to ever take a fresh view of things, even when empirical evidence would beg them to. Despite the fact that the Willmar paper, a Forum Communications property, has publicly blamed Trump's tariffs for having to cancel their Monday print edition, the Forum has endorsed a Trump clone to be Minnesota's governor: Jeff Johnson.
So convincing was Johnson's trumpeting of Trump's greatness, he and his Trumpian crowd turned back Tim Pawlenty in the primary. My goodness, Pawlenty once had the quite conservative image, n'est-ce pas? So did George W. bush. The recent thinking has become twisted to where conservative opinion leader Lou Dobbs of Fox Business describes Bush as a "liberal." Trump insisted in a Republican debate that 9-11 happened "on Bush's watch," insinuating the most negative thing possible re. the former president: that he had to be held accountable, to a degree, for the terrible tragedy.
Pawlenty and Bush aren't cutting it any more in the Republican Party. The flag-waving is being done by emotional radicals. They have pushed through two extreme Supreme Court nominees, the second of whom emerged through a cesspool of controversy. What would previous generations say? Think back to Eisenhower.
We know what's really behind the current push from the Trump loyalist crowd: it's all about white male resentment. What's amazing is that it has been allowed to get this far, while so many of us just watch stunned. We'd like to assume this type of radical element could be kept on the margins. The loony tunes stuff was always on the margins when I was a kid. I remember seeing a booth at the Crow Wing County Fair full of the print publications that epitomized the John Birch element, the equivalent of today's Trump-ism.
And Forum Communications isn't bothered at all, and in fact is trying to give a push to Jeff Johnson to be Minnesota's governor. Why does a Fargo-based business find it so important to push us around here in Minnesota, using its clout to try to sway our political sentiment? If this bothers you, I must say: cease any financial support you give to Forum Communications newspapers. That includes our paper here in Morris. Attention Indivisible Morris: get the word passed around about this.
Minnesota is a blue state and getting the job done quite fine that way.
An anecdote re. Morris Elementary
Just got back from the annual public breakfast/lunch at Zion Lutheran, a Lutheran denomination that I guess is more "strict" than mine. Should I be embarrassed? Based on researching Martin Luther, I should be embarrassed or ashamed calling myself a Lutheran but I digress. Anyway, in the course of reminiscing I heard that a couple well-known Morris teachers of the 1960s, in contrasting disciplines, didn't always see eye to eye. We're talking physical education and band.
Anyway, following a donkey basketball fundraising event, the phy. ed. teacher Jim Grant said it'd be OK to have the donkeys parked temporarily in the band room. The band director was the legendary Bob Schaefer, under whom I played while in junior high. The decision with the donkeys brought the disfavor of the music man.
Schaefer had the legendary Morris marching band of that era. It's my understanding he wrote our school song. Didn't he move on to Brookings SD?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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