Our premature winter has made artificial turf fields quite the hit. The MACA football team had its Friday game moved to Saturday so that accommodations could be made for the Sauk Centre turf field. And we weren't playing Sauk Centre, we were playing Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. Originally the game was to be played at Long Prairie.
The teams took the field amid the wintry atmosphere Saturday in this unusual football season of 2020. We're lucky to be seeing any football at all. We're lucky to be seeing the prepsters and lucky to have Big 10 football going. The Gophers were dismal against Michigan. Our MACA Tigers were the opposite of dismal in the Saturday affair at Sauk Centre!
LP-GE is known as the "Thunder" but it was the Tigers who made thunder-like noise with a superb exhibition of football. We climbed to 3-0 with each of those wins featuring 40-plus points. Wow! Crowd-pleasing as well as successful. The final scoreboard story Saturday was 48-7. Previously we beat 'Waska 42-6 and Holdingford 41-14.
We took our first step in the opening quarter when Zach Bruns connected with Kenny Soderberg on a two-yard touchdown pass. Bruns kicked the PAT and we were up 7-0, where the score stood at the end of one quarter. The second quarter was when the positive fortunes for the orange and black really took off! This was to the tune of a 28-7 advantage. The offense ruled as Bruns and Soderberg found the scoring touch again: a 12-yard TD strike. Bruns added the PAT. Then it was Bruns carrying the football himself for our third touchdown: a run from the eight. And again his toe produced the PAT.
The Thunder got on the scoreboard with a kickoff return performed by Weston Herzog: 78 yards. The PAT was added.
The Tigers kept rolling as Durgin Decker ran the ball into the end zone from the one. Bruns kicked. Soderberg was off to the races for a 43-yard punt return for six. Bruns' toe delivered for the point-after, and there were two more MACA touchdowns to be recorded. The first came on a Decker two-yard run. The kick try went awry this time.
MACA
climbed up to 48 points with a Drew Storck 16-yard touchdown pass to
Tyler Berlinger. Bruns drove the ball through the uprights on the PAT.
Yes, you might think it was mid-winter but we're not at Halloween yet. Would that the weather could be our biggest concern. The headlines about the pandemic don't look good at all. Our national leaders seem to be hoping for "herd immunity." Herd, isn't that a term we use with animals? It's no wonder senior citizens seem to be turning more toward Biden now. I guess the Democratic Party is the true "pro-life" one, wouldn't you say?
The orange and black fans enjoyed seeing 25 first downs by their team. Decker and Bruns were a 1-2 punch with amassing rushing yardage. The Decker numbers: 20 carries, 128 yards. Bruns scampered for 123 yards on his ten carries. Other Tiger ballcarriers: Tristan Raths (6-23), Ethan Lebrija (3-17), Soderberg (1-15), Cole Wente (1-12), Storck (2-11), Lewis Nohl (2-6), Max Lietz (1-0) and Caden Rose (minus yards). Nice to see a diversity of contributors, altogether producing 332 rushing yards.
Bruns completed six of eight pass attempts for 46 yards with one interception. Storck completed his only toss which was for the TD. We see three names in the receiving department: Wente (three catches, 24 yards), Soderberg (3-22) and Tyler Berlinger (1-16).
Decker picked off a LP-GE pass. Our defense limited the Thunder to four first downs. We slammed the door on the running game where LP-GE managed just 29 yards on 21 carries. The Thunder's Brady Cline completed two passes in 13 attempts. Both completions were to Peyton Johnson. Tye Urman made an interception.
Volleyball: Benson 3, Tigers 2
Success has been harder to come by for the MACA volleyball athletes. The Tigers fell to 1-3 on Saturday with a road loss to the Benson Braves. The match went the maximum of five games with Benson taking three to treat their fans. This was Benson's second win of the season. We sure started out strong with wins in the first two games, 25-22 and 25-17. Sorry, the scores as reported in the Willmar paper don't make sense so we'll be abbreviated. They have Morris winning the first three games. I'm wondering if Benson won game #3, 25-22. Appears to be a typo or some such thing. Benson took game #5, 15-13.
Sorry, I can't report MACA individual stats. Can't find them anywhere. Let's give credit to Benson and acknowledge their individuals. Beth Cain came at the Tigers with 17 kills in the hitting department. Rachel Berens pounded ten kills. The list continues with Sarah Brandt and Kimberly Pagel each recording seven, followed by Adysen Himley and Zoe Doscher each with two, and Ellie Moesenthin with one.
Pagel produced three ace blocks while Berens and Moesenthin each had two, and Brandt and Himley one each.
Moesenthin was sharp at the serving line to record four serving aces. Berens and Doscher each came through with three, Himley had two and Cain and Pagel one each. In the assists category we see two Braves shouldering the load, Moesenthin with 24 assists and Himley with 17. Let's cite the top two dig producers: Berens with 25 and Himley with 19.
My 10/26 podcast message
I invite you to visit my "Morris Mojo" podcast where I worry about the post-election state of affairs. I bring back the term "The Talking Rings" from a 1960 sci-fi movie. Here's the permalink:
Bypass newspaper paywalls
On Saturday as I prepared to post on the Minnewaska volleyball team, I researched the avoidance of online newspaper paywalls, and found success. I'll repeat what I wrote here:
News
flash: A light bulb went on over my head this morning as I wondered if
there was a way to get around newspaper paywalls online. When in doubt,
check Google. The answer is "yes" on the paywall avoidance. I'm sure you
are encountering this obstacle with the Willmar paper. Where I live, I
notice the Morris paper imposes this if you want to read certain
coverage in full. So in other words, you get "teased." Don't you feel
annoyed? The amount of the charge is small but it's still a commitment.
And if the kids want to see coverage on both the Willmar and Morris
paper sites, the arrangement becomes aggravating. So, a check through
Google shows there is a system called "incognito." Just do a search with
the following words: bypass newspaper paywall. Let's put it this
way: If I can do it, any young person could do this in a snap. I'm sure
this is not going to be a well-kept secret. Newspapers might say "well,
we own the information." Do you, really? The information is called in
by the coaches. The info belongs to the coaches and the schools. The
paper is merely a stenographer. Schools are already developing their own
YouTube sites, so really they should be the source of all sports team
info. The efforts can easily be supported by advertising. Might
Heartland Motors develop a nice slick locally-oriented video ad to run
during football broadcasts? Don't you think it's just a matter of time?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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