In the case of the Thief River Falls game I theorized that maybe in Thief River Falls the parents had chosen to de-emphasize football. On the grounds, of course, that it is not a healthy game to play. Shall I offer the theory again in regard to Detroit Lakes?
I spent the summer of 1973 in Detroit Lakes. I learned that July 4 is a huge deal there.
The football Tigers of Morris Area Chokio Alberta put a damper on the 2024 DL Homecoming. This we did with a 28-10 victory over those Lakers Friday. Man, we're kind of a steamroller now. And we're doing this while scoring lots of points.
Thief River Falls with its population of about 9,000 fell to our Tigers 42-0. Holy cow. That was a long trip for our players and fans to make. Too long IMHO. On Friday we were road warriors again. Can anyone stop the Tigers? Are we on our way to ever more glory? I just hope the players all stay healthy.
We entered Friday ranked No. 9 in state AAA. Fine, but I just hope all the players stay healthy. If not, no amount of success is worth it.
At DL the football is played at Mollberg Field. Do you suppose the Stevens County Times newspaper can be troubled to put anything on its website this weekend about the game? Such a significant season for MACA football. Certain people need to get off the schnide and that includes the radio station with its website. Brett Miller used to handle that. I was certainly pushed to deliver when I was with the paper.
Sue Dieter wanted high standards for the paper's website. The winds can blow every which way with this stuff, these priorities. One minute there's management that says things have to be done a certain way, and the next? It doesn't have to be done at all! Well, for what it is worth, I am happy on this Saturday morning to try to do some justice journalistically to the Friday game. I do it because it is fulfilling.
I have access to game info this time - the first time all season. Let's get into it. The Tigers pounded away with their ground game. The momentum started quickly for the orange and black: a 14-0 lead at the end of one quarter. Initially we scored with a 77-yard drive that included 14 plays. Grayson Gibson carried the football into the end zone with a run from the nine.
DL on the ensuing possession had disaster strike with an interception that had Jonah Huebner clutching the football. Huebner picked off Caden Strand. Huebner was promptly off to the races and found daylight all the way to the end zone: a 27-yard return for six. The scoreboard showed us up 14-0 less than seven minutes in.
Strand got hurt on the Lakers' second possession. It was a shoulder injury and it sidelined him for the remainder of the game. I found during my newspaper career that when I wrote about an opposing athlete being out with an injury or illness, I risked being attacked by Morris fans who suggested I was taking some luster from the Morris victory. A major instance of this happened with cross country! An opposing runner - Paynesville actually - was rumored to be ill and would likely not run in section.
How did I find out about this? The Morris coach told me. I thought nothing of incorporating this background in my writing. And I had no thought of taking anything away from Morris. But I was targeted in an absolute crucifixion attempt. It was a Morris dentist. That individual is gone from this community, thank goodness. We're all better off for it.
It is common for sportswriters to pay attention to injuries and absences on all teams. It adds to the intrigue. Hey, it's just sports!
Once Strand was sidelined Friday, Elijah Wyckoff was called upon as DL's signal-caller. Wyckoff hooked up with pass-catcher Tyler Bye for a 51-yard completion that netted six. This would prove to be the Lakers' only touchdown. The score at halftime was 14-7.
DL got an opportunity thanks to a fumble recovery. The opportunity had good field position. But DL had to settle for a field goal that was kicked by Nick Buboltz.
The Tigers got a good kick return. A sustained clock-eating drive developed. Drew Huebner passed to Riley Asmus, the latter in the corner of the end zone. The Tigers climbed to a 21-10 advantage. We scored again when Drew Huebner found the end zone from the four.
So interesting to see our Tigers on the winning end over communities with a much larger population, like double the population. We appear to prioritize football in Morris. But is it a fading sport?
DL on July 4 in the summer of '73: Alas I must report that my generation was prone to engaging in way too much foolishness: alcohol, drugs, late-night partying, ear-splitting rock music. Why? Kids whose grandparents are boomers should ask them about that. But I don't think they'd wish to say much.
The Morris newspaper
A friend sent me an email that included a downer note about the Morris newspaper:
I assume you saw this week’s fishwrap with the huge Hancock Homecoming photo across the top of page 1 (but smaller MAHS photo down below the fold), and another big article about the Hancock city council on the front page. Hmmm.
So it continues: the strong emphasis on Hancock in our Morris-based newspaper, the "Stevens County Times." Through most of it history, the paper of course identified with "Morris." The "Morris Sun Tribune." We took some flak even then for how we covered Hancock. But these days?
I have to believe the Morris paper management has to answer complaints about this often. Unless the Morris community is just too apathetic to complain. Hey, don't rule that out.
Next week is the Morris Homecoming. I spent years being very generous with how I covered the Homecoming, lots of spreads and photo collages to excite our readers. The paper today only comes out once a week and there's no comparison in terms of the space available to cover things.
No one is ever going to match what I did, or even come close.
A check of the SCT website this morning for sports reveals the 100 percent predictable: total UMM. This just goes on and on. Someone at the paper could just "riff" a little on Tiger sports and get an item on the website to share the excitement.
I have not been able to type the name of an MACA volleyball player all fall. The info is just not available in a timely way. I am able to blog about Minnewaska Area. Below is the link for my current 'Waska post from my companion blog "Morris of Course." Let's appreciate the Lakers anyway.
Oh, and also from my companion blog, a background post about the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton school nickname/mascot controversy. This controversy has nothing to do with Native Americans.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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