Anthony Rybinski (22) carries the ball upfield as Sawyer DeSmet (35) and Lucas Rybinski (10) create an opening.

Lakeview stuns Minneota, 30-13

In a battle of the two top-ranked teams in Class A, No. 2 Lakeview stymied No. 1 Minneota 30-13 at K.P. Kompelien Field Thursday night.
The win avenged a 57-0 loss to Minneota last season in Cottonwood.
Minneota turned the ball over four times and had 72 yards in penalties in the Southwest District showdown.
"Lakeview is too talented of a team to make the mistakes we made," said Minneota coach Chad Johnston. "We did some really good things but just weren't very consistent. When you play a good team like Lakeview that has so many weapons, you really have to play with as few mistakes as possible. We didn't do that and we paid for it."
Owen Louwagie threw three touchdown passes, two to Nathan Fenske, and Clayton Kosel ran for two scores to pace the Lakers' offense. Jordan Fischer had two of Lakeview's three interceptions.
"(Lakeview's) game plan was pretty much what we expected on both sides of the ball," said Johnston. "They did block a couple of things differently, but that really didn't hurt us. The only thing that maybe surprised me was how physical they played. It was a very physical game by both teams."
The physical nature of the game took a toll on a few players. Both Jack Lacek and Zack Fier went into concussion protocol. Fier passed his initial impact test and should be ready to play on Friday when the Vikings play at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Friday, Sept. 30. Lacek, who had 38-yard kickoff return to set up Minneota's first touchdown, is expected to miss Friday's game.
Also, Evan Popowski hyper-extended his elbow and also rolled his ankle. He could miss a game or two. Branden Johnson dislocated his finger but is not expected to miss Friday's game.
Statistics-wise, the game was nearly even with Lakers amassing 294 total yards and 15 first downs, while the Vikings had 252 total yards and 14 first downs.
Lakeview, who didn't commit a turnover, played well on both sides of the ball. Out of its five touchdowns, though, the Lakers failed to convert the extra point on each one.
On its opening drive, Minneota moved the ball with relative ease to the Lakeview 14 before Fischer intercepted a pass and raced down the sidelines. Anthony Rybinski ran him down after a 61-yard return to the Minneota 24.
Seven plays later, the Lakers scored on a 16-yard TD toss from Louwagie to Taiven Isaackson for a 6-0 lead.
The Vikings scored on their next possession. Lacek returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lakeview 42. On third-and-one, Zack Fier rumbled for 13 yards to the Lakers' 20. Anthony Rybinski's nine-yard run set up Fier's four-yard run for a first down to the seven. Two plays later, Lucas Rybinski scored from three yards out. Peyton Gillund's conversion kick gave the Vikings a short-lived 7-6 lead with 11:56 left in the first half.
Lakeview would then score three unanswered touchdowns and take a 24-7 halftime lead.
Louwagie connected with Nathan Fenske on a 68-yard touchdown pass for a 12-7 lead the Lakers would not relinquish. After forcing Minneota to punt, the Lakers scored again when Louwagie and Fenske teamed up again for a 30-yard scoring strike and an 18-7 lead.
The Vikings then turned the ball over on a fumble that was recovered by Isaackson on the Lakeview 41.
Kosel scored from 13 yards out to cap a six-play drive with 2:41 left in the first half and a 24-7 advantage.
Both teams scored just once in the second half, both in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings strung together a 62-yard drive to start the second half. On third-and-goal from the Lakeview eight-yard line, Fischer picked off his second pass to quell the drive.
The Vikings closed to within 24-13 on a beautiful 22-yard pass from Isaac Pohlen to Peyton Gillund in the left corner of the end zone.
After gaining possession of the onside kickoff attempt, the Lakers went 53 yards for the final touchdown, a five-yard run by Kosel.
Zack Fier gained 99 yards on the ground for the Vikings. Pohlen completed 11 of 19 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Gillund caught four passes for 59 yards. Max Rost had tow receptions for 21 yards and Ryan Dalager had two catches for 27 yards.
Parker Bradley led Minneota with 10 tackles. Peyton Gillund had seven stops, Keaton Jurrens six and Hudson Scholten five. Sawyer DeSmet had the team's lone sack.
These two teams could meet again in the playoffs.
"We will need to execute better. We had some blocking errors that hurt us and we cannot turn the ball over," said Johnston, when asked what the Vikings will have to clean up if they face the Lakers again. "That is one stat that truly stands out in this game was the fact that we had four turnovers and Lakeview had none. Hard to win games against good teams when that is your turnover ratio."
Louwagie completed 8 of 14 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns for the Lakers. Kosel finished with 93 yards rushing. Fenske had seven receptions for 136 yards.
Minneota plays at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Friday, Sept. 30.

CLASS A RANKINGS
(As of Sept. 18)
(1) Minneota 3-0 (2) Lakeview 3-0 (3) BOLD 3-0 (4) Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 3-0 (5) Mayer Lutheran 2-1 (6) Fillmore Central 3-0 (7) Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 3-0 (8) Martin County West 3-0 (9) Mahnomen-Waubun 3-0 (10) Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 2-1

Lakeview 30, Minneota 13
Lakeview..........6 18 0 6 - 30
Minneota..........0 7 0 6 - 13

Scoring Plays
Lake - Taiven Isaackson 16 pass from Owen Louwagie (kick failed)
Min - Lucas Rybinski 3 run (Peyton Gillund kick)
Lake - Nathan Fenske 68 pass from Louwagie (pass failed)
Lake - Fenske 31 pass from Louwagie (run failed)
Lake - Clayton Kosel 13 run (pass failed)
Min - Gillund 22 pass (pass failed)
Lake - Kosel 7 run (pass failed)

Minneota Offensive
Statistics
Total yards: Minneota 252, Lakeview 294 .... Passing yards: Minneota 120, Lakeview 152 ... Rushing yards: Minneota 132, Lakeview 142 ... First Downs: Minneota 14, Lakeview 15 .... Turnovers: Minneota 4, Lakeview 0 .... Penalties: Minneota 7-72, Lakeview 5-38.

Minneota Individuals
Passing (com-att-yds-td-int): Isaac Pohlen 11-19-108-1-3, Ryan Dalager 1-1-12-0-0

Rushing (att-yds): Zack Fier 19-99, Anthony Rybinski 5-14, Lucas Rybinski 3-9, Isaac Pohlen 8-8, Destin Fier 1-2

Receiving: Peyton Gillund 4-59, Ryan Dalager 2-27, Max Rost 4-21, Lucas Rybinski 1-8, Anthony Rybinski 1-5

Minneota Defensive Statistics
Tackles (solo-assist-total): Parker Bradley 4-6-10, Sawyer DeSmet 2-1-3, Keaton Jurrens 2-4-6, Destin Fier 1-2-3, Max Rost 1-1-2, Alex DePestel 1-3-4, Hudson Scholten 1-1-2, Zack Fier 1-1-2, Anthony Rybinski 0-4-4, Lucas Rybinski 0-1-1, Peyton Gillund 0-7-7, Peyton Sheik 0-2-2, Branden Johnson 0-3-3, Eli Gruenes 0-1-1B 0-1-1

Interceptions: None

Tackles for Loss: Sawyer DeSmet 1, Destin Fier 1, Alex DePestel 1

Sacks: Sawyer DeSmet 1

Punting (no-avg.): Peyton Gillund 4-37.0

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