Zack Fier is hoisted in the air by Anthony Rybinski after scoring a touchdown.

‘1’ of a kind

Minneota captures 8th state title with 38-21 win over Springfield

So much for rankings.
Minneota, ranked No. 10 in Class A, captured the state championship in impressive fashion with a 38-21 victory over unranked Springfield on Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Vikings (12-2) had dropped in the rankings after a couple of regular-season losses, but flexed their muscles throughout the playoffs to capture the program’s eighth overall state championship.
The win was also the 200th of coach Chad Johnston’s career, as well as his fifth state title.
“I’m extremely proud of the kids,” said Johnston. “They battled through a lot of adversity this season with injuries and switching some personnel and they finished on a high note.”
During the season, few teams have been able to run against the Vikings’ defense. Teams with a quality passing attack were able to move the ball downfield more efficiently. But as the playoffs neared, the Vikings got some injured players back and the coaching staff made some personnel changes.
Max Rost, a stellar defensive back, was one of the players out for a few games with an knee injury. His return helped solidify the pass defense.
“Max is a great defensive back for us,” said senior running back/linebacker Zack Fier. “He is so smart on the field and is always in the right place.”
Still, Springfield came out passing with success early in the game. After going three-and-out on its first possession, a drive stalled on a sack by Anthony Rybinski on third-and-eight the Tigers got the ball back when Sam Pidde intercepted a pass on Minneota’s opening possession and returned it to the Tigers’ 29.
Springfield then put together a 10-play, 71-yard drive that ended in a one-yard run by Ashtin Johnson, who also kicked the extra point, for a 7-0 lead. Jakob Nachreiner connected with Carter Olson for a 41-yard pass, and with Ashton Toll for 18 yards during the drive.
“I think the key for us was not getting down after they scored,” said Rost. “We picked each other up just like we did all season.”
Ryan Meagher’s 34-yard kickoff return to the Springfield 46 gave the Viking great field position. From there, the Vikings ran the ball eight straight times with Meagher capping it off on a nine-yard touchdown run. Peyton Gillund’s extra point tied the game.
Gillund added a 28-yard field goal that was set up by a 37-yard pass connection from Isaac Pohlen to Rost down the left sideline. That gave Minneota a 10-7 lead with 1:14 left in the first half.
But Springfield was able to score a touchdown with just 34 second left in the half for a 13-10 lead. Nachreiner completed 4-of-6 passes for 65 yards in the drive, including a 16-yard TD strike to Olson. The extra point failed.
“We switched up a couple of things at halftime,” Johnston said. “We told the kids that Springfield is a good team and will make some good plays. We had a couple of breakdowns in coverage in the first half that led to them scoring. We decided not to blitz as much so we could drop seven or eight guys in coverage.
Minneota dominated the second half, maintaining possession by a 2-to-1 margin.
"Our best defense is not being on defense," Johnston said, referring to the time of possession. "Our offense controlled the line of scrimmage."
Offensive coordinator Matt Myrvik drew up plays to near perfection, maintaining possession of the ball and controlling the clock throughout, keeping the ball away from the quick-striking Tigers.
Fier, who was named the Most Valuable Teammate of the game after gaining 133 yards in 30 carries, said the offensive linemen deserved a lot of credit.
"They were outstanding," he said. "They just dominated up front and made things easy for us to run. The had the (Springfield) defense wore down. They even said it was much easier to block in the second half because the Springfield defense was so tired from being on the field so much."
The linemen were Lane Loyson at center, Alex DePestel and Parker Bradley at guards, and Eli Gruenes and Hudson Scholten at tackles. Sawyer DeSmet was the tight end.
The Vikings took the lead for good at 17-13 on the opening possession of the second half, utilizing a nine-play, 65-yard drive, all on the ground Fier ran eight times for 54 yards, including a one-yard TD. Meagher ran once for 11 yards.
Meagher finished the game with 73 yards in eight carries.
The Vikings scored on their next possession on a 66-yard drive that included another long pass from Pohlen to Rost, this time for 38 yards. Lucas Rybinski scored from four yards out for a 24-13 lead.
Minneota scored twice more in the fourth quarter on one-yard runs from Fier and Lucas Rybinski.
"We knew Springfield had good athletes and could make big plays," said Fier. "We just had to minimize those big plays. We are a better run defense team, but our d-backs played really well down the stretch. We were playing our best at the end of the season."
Fier had over 240 carries for over 1,500 yards this season without a fumble.
Springfield added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 37-yard pass from Nachreiner to Pidde, but it was too little, too late.
"Our best defense is when the offense is controlling the pace and tempo of the game,": said senior lineman Joe Verschelde. "When we can run five yards or more every carry, it makes it tough for the other team."
Minneota owned the time of possession, 34:29 to 13:31, including having the ball for 18:21 in the second half to just 5:39 for the Tigers.
Pohlen completed 5 of 7 passes for 97 yards and also ran for 12 yards. Rost had two receptions for 75 yards. Nachreiner completed 11 of 21 passes for 182 yards, well below his season average.
"We had two weeks to prepare and we watched film on them and the different routes they like to run," said Rost. "We ran some different formation at them to help limit their big plays."
DeSmet had two of the Vikings' four sacks. Scholten and Anthony Rybinski had the other two. Destin Fier, who had an interception in the state semifinals against Fillmore Central, had another one in this game.
"Winning a state championship is one of those things you dream about when you are little," said Verschelde, the team's inspirational leader. "This feels pretty good."

Minneota 38, Springfield 21
Springfield...........................7 6 0 8 - 21
Minneota.............................0 10 14 14 - 38

Scoring Plays
Spr - Ashtin Johnson 1 run (Johnson kick)
Min - Ryan Meagher 9 run (Peyton Gillund kick)
Min - Gillund 28 field goal
Spr - Carter Olson 16 pass from Jakob Nachreiner (kick failed)
Min - Zack Fier 1 run (Gillund kick)
Min - Lucas Rybinski 4 run (Gillund kick)
Min - Z.Fier 1 run (Gillund kick)
Spr - Sam Pidde 37 pass from Nachreiner (MaCoy Krick pass from Nachreiner)
Min - L.Rybinski 1 run (Gillund kick)

Team Statistics
Total yards: Minneota 340, Springfield 209 .... Passing yards: Minneota 97, Springfield 182 ... Rushing yards: Minneota 243, Springfield 27 ... First Downs: Minneota 19, Springfield 10 ... Turnovers: Minneota 1, Springfield 1 ... Penalties: Minneota 2-14, Springfield 3-25.

Passing
MINNEOTA (com-att-yds-td-int): Isaac Pohlen 5-7-97-0-1 ... SPRINGFIELD (com-att-yds-td-int): Jakob Nachreiner 11-21-182-2-1

Rushing
MINNEOTA: Zack Fier 30-133, Ryan Meagher 8-73, Anthony Rybinski 4-19, Destin Fier 1-16, Lucas Rybinski 4-13, Isaac Pohlen 5-12, Max Rost 2-3 ... SPRINGFIELD: Ashton Toll 2-20. Carter Olson 3-15, Samuel Rummel 1-9, Ashtin Mohnson 8-14, Jakob Nahreiner 5-0

Receiving
MINNEOTA: Max Rost 2-75, Peyton Gillund 1-12, Ryan Meagher 1-5, Ryan Dalager 1-5 ... SPRINGFIELD: Carter Olson 5-74, Ashton Toll 2-24, Sam Pidde 1-37, Brayden Sturm 1-24, MaCoy Krick 1-15

Tackles
MINNEOTA (solo-assist-total): Anthony Rybinski 4-0-4, Hudson Scholten 3-1-4, Sawyer DeSmet 3-1-4, Parker Bradley 2-1-3, Lucas Rybinski 2-1-3, Destin Fier 2-0-2, Peyton Gillund 1-1-2, Andrew Lipinski 0-2-2, Jack Lacek 0-2-2, Kaden Lasnetski 1-0-1, Easton Sheik 1-0-1, Max Rost 1-0-1, Eli Gruenes 1-0-1, Alex DePestel 1-0-1, Browdy Lozinski 1-0-1, Dalton Orvis 0-1-1, Peyton Sheik 0-1-1, Browdy Lozinski 0-1-1 ... SPRINGFIELD (solo-assist-total): Ashton Toll 8-8-16, Sam Pidde 6-5-11, Samuel Rummel 4-7-11, Luke Boyle 3-4-7, Brayden Sturm 2-4-6, Dniel Rogotzke 2-3-5

Sacks
MINNEOTA: Sawyer Desmet 2, Hudson Scholten 1, Anthony Rybinski 1

Interceptions
MINNEOTA: Destin Fier 1 ... SPRINGFIELD: Sam Pidde 1

Punting
MINNEOTA (number-avg.): Peyton Gillund 1-29.0 ... SPRINGFIELD: Brayden Sturm 5-29.8

State Tournament
NINE-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Mt. Iron-Buhl 28, Spring Grove 25
CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
Minneota 38, Springfield 21
CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP
Barnesville 35, Chatfield 20
CLASS 3A CHAMPIONSHIP
NL-Spicer 27, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 26
4A CHAMPIONSHIP
Simley 34, Hutchinson 24
CLASS 5A CHAMPIONSHIP
Elk River 29, Mankato West 26
CLASS 6A CHAMPIONSHIP
Maple Grove 27, Rosemount 10

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Minneota, MN 56264

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