Sauk Rapids football team bullied by Elk River backfield in blowout loss

SAUK RAPIDS — Elk River's power T offense is easy on the eyes — unless you're a defense.

After sometimes multiple fake handoffs, Sauk Rapids-Rice defenders often didn't know who to read and the Storm football lost its second game of the season Friday at Sauk Rapids Midde School by a score of 58-19.

"Just a tough night," Storm coach Phillip Klaphake said. "Sometimes it just doesn't go your way a bunch and (tonight) kind of got a little bit out of control. We have to find a way to respond now — which we've done in the past."

The Storm (3-2) had state tournament hopes to start the year, but making it out of sections will be a tall task after junior quarterback Spencer Ackerman broke his thumb in Week 2.

Alas it wasn't a lack of Storm offense that cost them the game — Elk River ran all over Sauk Rapids, rushing for more than 250 yards just on touchdowns.

"We just got to be more physical and be more sound with a team like that," Storm senior running back and DB Deagan Gondeck said.

Elk (4-1) senior Gavin Schmidt ran for four TDs and senior Brecken Keoraj added two more. Both had the tendency to buzz into open field and speed away from Storm defenders, but either can and did break tackles.

Klaphake said he's hardly ever unhappy with how hard his team plays, including Friday. He said especially backups are put in difficult spots when they're called on halfway through the season,

"I think those kids are doing an awesome job, they really are," he said. "They've been put in a couple goofy spots so far and we'll keep growing."

Often the entire Sauk Rapids defense would bite one of the fake handoffs in Elk River’s backfield. The Elk offense is built on the nearly illegible action between Elk junior quarterback Levi Harris and his group of running backs. There are 23 RBs listed on the Elk roster and no wide receivers. Sometimes Harris would fake to one of three running backs and other times he’d fake to two.

Keoraj scored the first TD, a 46 yard run up the left side that everybody in green thought was going right. Harris also had a rushing touchdown before halftime and junior backup quarterback Dylan Ramert scored in the second half. Another junior backup QB, Brody Thompson, also got yardage in the second half.

"Really that's where we have to be sound," Gondeck said. "You have to see what's happening. We have reads but they pulled out some stuff that we hadn't seen before and we struggled with reads. One of our linebackers said they were fake pulling. When you're reading the guards and that happens, it's really hard."

He also remembered a few Elk players who were fast at the section track meet last spring.

One stop for football coverage: St. Cloud Times high school football 2024: the complete guide for total coverage

Other Week 5 scores: High school football Week 5 scoreboard and locations

Lundeen and Becker celebrating 400 wins: Five-decade Becker founding football coach Dwight Lundeen gets 400th win

Sauk Rapids' offense wasn't inept. The Storm had star junior receiver Hudson Omoke back from concussion protocol and Gondeck did his part, scoring the Storm's first two touchdowns. Senior running back Anthony Camara also had some impactful runs and catches for yardage, especially in the second half.

But, the playbook was limited by backups and an Elk defense that put a lot of pressure on the backfield. Junior QB Samuel Kulus started the game after beating St. Francis without Omoke last week. He completed his first pass, but often his attempts soared high or fell low. In the first half the offense gave up two fumbles, two turnovers on downs and a punt. They also failed on two two-point conversions and a couple double passes from Omoke didn't have much success.

Gondeck's longest run was a 50+ yard touchdown near the end of the first quarter that included trucking a would-be tackler at the goal line. But Schmidt negated it 15 seconds later with a 63 yarder.

In the second quarter sophomore Alex Zimmer entered at quarterback for the Storm. He threw a few more wayward throws, but also connected with Omoke and other receivers on quality gains. Senior Mason Sabraski had good catches for yardage and first downs. In the fourth sophomore Payten Remer had some good runs and he recovered a fumble.

Zimmer scored Sauk Rapids' final TD on a keeper with 5:43 remaining in the game.

"(We have to) wash this one away," Omoke said. "Don't think about it. Go on to the next game. Don't focus on the past, focus on the future and on what we can control."Sauk Rapids travels to Cambridge-Isanti (0-5) next week. The + most recently lost 32-13 to St. Francis. The Storm beat them 24-12 in 2023.

"You just have to stay positive," Gondeck said. "For me I keep telling myself 'The next game you got to keep running it until you have it.' It's the same thing with injuries and losing seniors. You have to move on from it so backups stay prepared in practice."

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Sauk Rapids football team bullied by Elk River backfield in blowout loss