GRAND MEADOW TOOK ON EDGERTON/ELLSWORTH IN THE 9 MAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Grand Meadow went up against Edgerton/Ellsworth in the 9 Man football championship game at TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota.   

Edgerton kicked off to start the game. Grand Meadow started on their 39-yard line. Grand Meadow’s Landon Jacobson looked to keep the ball on the ground. Teammate Michael Stejskal also came up with some huge runs. Jacobson came up with a 13-yard run for a first down. Grand Meadow was able to keep the ball on the ground and Jacobson came up with a 6-yard touchdown run. The extra-point attempt was good.

With 8:23 left in the first quarter the score was Grand Meadow 7, Ellsworth 0.

Grand Meadow took over on the 16-yard line after the touchdown.

There was a media timeout with 8:17 left in the first quarter.

Edgerton couldn’t move the ball down the field. On 4th-and-6 Edgerton punted the ball.

Grand Meadows Jacobson came up with a 14-yard touchdown run. The extra-point was good.

With 6:27 left in the first quarter the score was Grand Meadow 14, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth moved the ball the field using the run game. The defense was able to turn Ellsworth over on downs.

Jacobson continued to move the ball down the field. Stejskal came up with some receptions that also moved the chains.

The score after one quarter of play was Grand Meadow 14, Ellsworth 0.

Jacobson looked to get into the end zone early in second quarter.  

Grand Meadow’s Wyatt Richardson attempted a 23-yard field goal which was good.

With 9:51 left in the second quarter the score was Grand Meadow 17, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth had the ball and on the first play Jacobson came up with an interception and Grand Meadow took over on the 15-yard line.

Stejskal was able to get Jacobson the ball in different parts of the field. The defense had a hard time bringing Stejskal down. Richardson attempted a 43-yard field goal which was good.

With 6:36 left in the second quarter the score was Grand Meadow 20, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth took over on the 33-yard line. Mason Slius came up with a huge reception for a first down. Grand Meadow intercepted the ball.

Cody Ojulu came up with a 56-yard reception from Stejskal for a touchdown.

The extra-point attempt was good.

With 2:24 left in the second quarter the score was Grand Meadow 27, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth was intercepted by Stejskal. Grand Meadow’s Blake Olson came up with a 56-yard reception for a touchdown.

The extra-point attempt was not good.

With 1:06 left in the second quarter the score was Grand Meadow 33, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth was not able to move the ball down the field as the clock ran out to end the second quarter.

At halftime the score was Grand Meadow 33, Ellsworth 0.

Grand Meadow kicked off to start the third quarter. Ellsworth looked to get their offense going early in the third quarter. Ellsworth was intercepted by Christopher Bain.

There was a media timeout with 9:07 left in the third quarter.

Grand Meadow moved the ball down the field. Stejskal found Ojulu for a 21-yard touchdown reception. The extra-point attempt was good.

With 4:55 left in the third quarter the score was Grand Meadow 40, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth took over near mid field but they were not able to move the ball down the field so they punted the ball on 4th down.

Grand Meadow took over near midfield. Stejskal came up with a 17-yards for a first down. Grand Meadow fumbled the ball and Ellsworth recovered it.

After three quarters of play the score was Grand Meadow 40, Ellsworth 0.

Ellsworth turned the ball over on downs.

Grand Meadow found the end zone on a 7-yard run by Jacobson. The two-point attempt was good.

With 6:57 left in the fourth quarter the score was Grand Meadow 48, Ellsworth 0.

Both teams played hard throughout the game. Grand Meadow came away with the 48-0 victory over

Ellsworth to win the 2014 Minnesota State High School Leagues Class 9 Man state championship.

After the game I was able to talk to Grand Meadow’s Ojulu, Stejskal and head coach Gary Slone about the victory.

GHEC TAKES DOWN TWO TIME DEFENDING STATE CHAMPS IN AN OVER TIME THRILLER AND WINS THE CLASS A CROWN

Ellsworth took on Granade-Huntley-East Chain (GHEC) in the class A final. Ellsworth came out swinging to get the game started. Trevor Gruis started out strong. He was able to step up and make some nice shots early in the game.

Ellsworth was able to get some shots to go in for them early in the contest. They were able to get a few different people to score on different occasions. Ellsworth was able to go on a little run mid way through the second half.

Both teams went at it in the first half. Ellsworth they were able to get the ball up the court. They played good in transition. Casey Schilling had the hot hand in the first half. He was the leader on the floor for Ellsworth in the first half.

In the first half Ellsworth has been able to find the open man and who ever that is has been able to make the wide open basket.

At half time the score was GHEC 18 and Ellsworth 28.

As the second half got underway both teams started out hot. GHEC was able to go on a run to start the second half out. Both teams played very tough throughout the whole game.

GHEC was able to spread out the court on the offensive end. They were able to go on a run in the second half. GHEC was able to use the half court trap and that caused Ellsworth problems.

These teams were able to trade baskets in a frantic pace in the second half. Both teams really scraped after it. Everyone was diving on the ground.

There have been many ties and lead changes in the second half. This game will come down to the wire. This game was tied at 51 a piece with 15 seconds to go.

The game was tied at 51 at the end of regulation and we had to go into overtime. Over time was a four minute period.

In the overtime period Tim Garry was able to hit the first shot for CHEC. That provided a spark for GHEC. In the overtime period Ellsworth just committed to many turnovers. They couldn’t hit shots that they put up.

GHEC was able to pull away in the overtime period. They were able to come away with the 62-54 victory.
For Ellsworth they were lead in scoring by Tom Nolte with 16 points. For CHEC they were lead in scoring by Tim Garry who had 25 points.

I was joined at this game by the Twin Cities Hoops Czar. You can read his thoughts about the Ellsworth Vs GHEC game here. I was also joined by the Basket Blogger you can read about his thoughts of the game here.

My post game interview was GHEC 24 Tim Garry

SECOND CLASS A SEMI FINAL PUTS ELLSWORTH AGAINST ADA-BORUP

In the second class A semi final game it is Ellsworth going up against Ada-Borup. Both of these teams came out swinging early. Both of these teams wanted to get a quick start. Both of these teams traded baskets in the early goings.

Both teams started playing aggressively on both sides of the ball. Ellsworth was able to get the ball up the court in transition in the first half.

Both teams traded baskets in the first half. Neither team was able to go on a run in the first half. Neither team was able to shoot the ball that well either. They were having trouble with the sight lines in the Target Center.
For Ellsworth they were able to cap off the first half on a run. They were able to sting baskets together towards the end of the first half. In a very slow tempo of a game at half time the score was Ellsworth 26 and Ada-Borup 18.

At the beginning of the second half Ellsworth came out ready to play. They really went after it in the second half.
Ada-Boup did do a good job of playing defense in the second half. They used mostly a zone in the second half. They did do a good job of causing some frustration for Ellsworth in the second half as they came out and played aggressive defense. Ada-Bourp was able to cause some matchup problems for Ellsworth.

Ellsworth started to put the hammer down in the second half. Even through Ada –Borp gave Ellsworth a run for their money in late in the second half they were not able to come up with the victory.

Ellsworth was able to get the 62-53 victory. The leading scorers for Ada-Bourp were Yuri Johnson with 16 points and Blake Bueng with 11 points. The leading scores for Ellsworth were Adam Van Der Stoep with 22, and Trevor Gruis with 19 points.

With this victory Ellsworth will take on Granda-Hutly East Chain in the Class A Championship game.

My post game interviews are -
Head Coach Tyler Morris

Cassey Schilling

Trevor Gruis

Adam Van Der Stoep