Apple Valley picks up its first victory
Lakeville North withstood a determined effort by Farmington to remain one of four undefeated teams in Class 6A football.
Sam Ripplinger ran for two touchdowns and Riley Grossman passed for two in the Panthers’ 27-20 victory Sept. 20. Farmington (2-2) had rushing touchdowns by Brock Wyandt, Layne Johnson and Jonah Ask.
North, Maple Grove, Minnetonka and Shakopee are the four 4-0 teams in Class 6A. Lakeville North, Maple Grove and Minnetonka occupied the top three spots in last week’s state media poll, while Shakopee was fifth. Minnetonka and Shakopee play each other Friday night, while Lakeville North is home against seventh-ranked Eagan, a 35-33 winner over Lakeville South last week.
Farmington took a 13-7 first-quarter lead against North as Johnson scored on a 26-yard run and Ask had a 1-yard run. North’s touchdown was Grossman’s 4-yard pass to Blake Hendrickson.
The Panthers assumed control in the second quarter, taking the lead on an 8-yard pass from Grossman to Ayden Forsgren and Ripplinger’s 59-yard run. Ripplinger’s second score of the game came on a 6-yard run in the third quarter, making it 27-13.
Wyandt scored on a 3-yard run later in the third to bring Farmington within 27-20, but that was as close as the Tigers could get.
Ripplinger rushed for a career-high 234 yards on 38 carries and caught two passes for 21 yards. For the season, he has 623 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.
Grossman completed seven of 12 passes for 65 yards and gained 43 yards on five rushes.
Linebacker Riley Forar led the North defense with six tackles. Ethan Rozmarin intercepted a pass.
Ask, the Farmington quarterback, rushed for 111 yards on 10 carries and completed nine of 15 passes for 101 yards. Johnson rushed eight times for 60 yards and made nine tackles on defense, while Wyandt gained 42 yards on five carries and caught five passes for 61 yards.
Christopher Rehak (14 stops) and Danny Sather were the tackling leaders for the Tigers, who play at Rosemount at 7 p.m. Friday. Rosemount (1-3) has lost three in a row, including 17-14 at Rochester Mayo last week.
Apple Valley 30Tartan 14
Apple Valley scored 22 first-quarter points en route to the Eagles’ first varsity football victory of the season, 30-14 at Tartan on Sept. 21.
The early blitz included a 34-yard touchdown run by Jackson Cozy and Jackson Thornburgh touchdown passes of 26 yards to Brandon Fleming and 20 yards to Quieris Barnslater. Cozy also ran for two two-point conversions.
The rest of the Eagles’ points came when Fleming returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown.
Thornburgh completed 12 of 20 passes for 136 yards. Barnslater and Tylan Ward each had four catches, and Fleming made two receptions
Apple Valley (1-3) plays Robbinsdale Cooper at noon Saturday in the Eagles’ homecoming game. Cooper is 3-1 after defeating St. Louis Park 41-0 last week.
Rochester Mayo 17Rosemount 14
Rosemount didn’t get what it wanted from its trips to Rochester last week.
Yes, that’s “trips,” as in plural. Storms disrupted things Sept. 19, when the Irish were scheduled to play at Rochester Mayo. Kickoff initially was delayed an hour, but when the lightning threat persisted, everybody was sent home until the following afternoon.
A 1-yard run by Isaiah Beale with 14 seconds remaining was the go-ahead score for Mayo, and meant that the Irish would ride home frustrated for the second consecutive day. The Spartans converted on a couple of fourth-down plays on the game-winning drive.
Rosemount had difficulty getting its offense started, but rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit. Junior running back Jeru Bean scored on a 5-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Later in the quarter, Rosemount forced a turnover on downs in Irish territory. Rosemount ran a double pass on the next play, with Callan Ronay hitting Kelan Johnson for a 72-yard touchdown and a 14-10 lead.
The Irish (1-3), who have lost three in a row, will try to break the streak when they play Farmington at home at 7 p.m. Friday. Farmington is 2-2 after a 27-20 loss to Lakeville North last week.
Hopkins 34Burnsville 22
Hopkins ended a 29-game losing streak with a victory over Eastview on Sept. 13. The Royals now have a winning streak after their victory at Burnsville on Sept. 20.
Hopkins scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to deny the Blaze (0-4) their first victory of the season.
Burnsville senior receiver/linebacker Ben Watson scored three touchdowns – one each on offense, defense and special teams. Watson caught a 47-yard touchdown pass from Quenten Platt. Just 17 seconds later, with the Blaze on defense, Watson scored on a 40-yard interception return. La’trell Foster ran for a two-point conversion as Burnsville’s lead grew to 14-0.
Hopkins scored the next three touchdowns and had a 22-14 lead with less than two minutes remaining. Watson struck again, this time on an 80-yard kickoff return with 1 minute, 36 seconds left. Platt threw to Dane Heinen for a two-point conversion to tie the game.
The Royals regained the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds to play, and scored their final touchdown on a fumble return with one second left.
Platt completed six of 11 passes for 96 yards. Jameson Joubert and Demetrius Tucker had nine and eight tackles for the Burnsville defense, and Watson and Adam Briese intercepted passes.
The Blaze play at Eastview (1-3) at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Buffalo 34Eastview 7
The Lightning didn’t get on the scoreboard until less than four minutes remained, and by that time the Sept. 20 game was out of reach. The host Bison scored in each quarter and capped their victory with two touchdowns in the fourth.
JC Green completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Matty McGrath with 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining for the Lightning’s touchdown.
Buffalo outgained Eastview 329-225. Green rushed for 79 yards on 10 carries, but two Eastview quarterbacks combined to complete just seven of 25 passes. McGrath, Jossy Alebachew and Kaleb Ngwendson had two receptions each.
On defense, the Lightning’s Kye Brouchet and Nathan Schroeder had 13 and 10 tackles. Abenezer Fikru had an interception.
Eastview (1-3) plays host to Burnsville (0-4) in the Lightning’s homecoming game at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Mike Shaughnessy can be reached at mike.shaughnessy@apgecm.com.
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