Victory — at a costly price

Minneota opened the football season Thursday with a 23-8 win over Sleepy Eye — but it came at a costly price.

Sophomore quarterback Jacob Hennen, who threw for 156 yards and rushed for 26 more, apparently broke his left wrist at the end of an end sweep.

On fourth and goal from the sixth, with 5:13 left in the game and Minneota leading 16-8, Hennen tried to stretch the ball into the endzone as he was tackled.

The ball came loose and went into the end zone for a touchback. Sleepy Eye got the ball and Jacob Hennen was injured. He came up holding his wrist.

It, "Was a broken wrist," texted his father Brad after he'd taken Jacob to the hospital for X-Rays.

Without a quarterback, Minneota ran the rest of the game using the "Wildcat" play, snapping directly to back Cole Sanow.

Sleepy Eye threatened to score but Tanner Sterzinger ended that with an interception at the Indian 35.

After that, Sanow ran six yards, 11 yards and finally 18 yards into the end zone. LaShad Smith kicked the point and Minneota led, 23-8.

That would be the final score.

Offensive Coordinator Mayy Myrvik acknowledge that Jacob Hennen had played "a good game" up to the point of injury. "He kept us in the game and his ability to run gave us another dimension," said the assistant coach.

Minneota had 368 total yards with 212 rushing 168 in the air. Sleepy Eye, which employed a running attack, had 223 total yards  154 on the ground.

They, too, lost a key player, 200-pound fullback Jacob Berg. Midway through the second quarter he was shaken up. He played sparingly in the second half but had to leave the game. He ended with 32 yards rushing and he was the Indians middle linebacker.

This was a mistake-riddled game that saw Minneota commit 12 penalties for 106 yards. Sleepy Eye had six for 43 yards.

The mostly costly was came at the end of the third quarter with the Vikings leading, 16-8. They'd scored on a 51-yard pass from Jacob to brother Thomas Hennen and Jacob Hennen ran for the two-point conversion.

With Minneota at the Sleepy Eye five-yard line, Sanow ran the ball over for a touchdown — but a holding penalty canceled the touchdown. Sleepy Eye held.

"There were a lot of mistakes and we've got things to fix," said Myrvik.

But the one thing they likely can't fix quickly is Jacob Hennen's broken wrist. As to who will step in at quarterback or how the coaching staff will handle it, nothing is known at this time.

Cole Sanow had a 105-yard rushing day and Alex Saltzer caught five passes for 82 yards and Thomas Hennen caught just the one pass — for the touchdown.

On defense, Shawn Buysse led the way with 11 total tackles. Blake Reiss added 10 with Sanow seven. Reiss recovered a fumble and Sterzinger and Sanow had interceptions.

Logan Sussner added a big sack late in the game for Minneota — a sack that put a Sleepy Eye drive to an end.

The Vikings play at Dawson-Boyd at 7 p.m. Friday. Dawson-Boyd beat Adrian, 58-18 and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton beat Yellow Medicine East 30-8.

Minneota 23, Sleepy Eye 8

Sleepy Eye         0    8    0    0    —    8

Minneota            0    8    8    6    —    23

First Quarter

None

Second Quarter

Sleepy Eye — Colten Meyer 2 run. PAT-Jacob Berg run.

Minneota-Tanner Sterzinger 5 run. PAT- Cole Sanow run.

Third Quarter

Thomas Hennen 51 pass from Jacob Hennen. PAT-Jacob Hennen run.

Fourth Quarter

Minneota-Cole Sanow 12 run. PAT-LaShad Smith kick.

Minn.                                    SE
21             First Downs        10
12-106        Penalties/Yds   6-43
1-1        Fumbles/Lost         1-1
45-212        Rushes/Yds     69
368        Total Yds               223

RUSHING (No., yds) Minneota-Cole Sanow 20-106; Tanner Sterzinger 5-40; Thomas Hennen 7-37; Jake Hennen 7-26; Austin Kloos 2-4; Other 1-0. Sleepy Eye-Colton Myers 12-89; Jacob Berg 13-32; Evan Fischer 5-26; Kegan Heidersscheiddt 4-4; Juan Cortez 1-2; Matt Sellner 1-1; Jacob Meyer 2-0; Others 1-0.
PASSING: (No., commpleted, yds, int.) Minneota-Jacob Hennen 17-8-158-1; Sleepy Eye Heiderscheidt 16-8-69-2.
RECEIVING: (No., yds.) Minneota-Alex Saltzer 5-62; Thomas Hennen 1-51; Cole Sanow 2-23; Sleepy Eye: Nathan Weber 4-39; Blake Tauer 1-19; C. Myers 1-6; J. Berg 1-3; E. Fischer 1-2.
KICKOFFS: (No., yds. Avg.) Minneota-LaShad Smith 5-173-34.6; Sleepy Eye-Frankie Trevino 2-9648.0.
KICKOFF RETURNS: (No., yds.) Minneota-LaShad Smith 2-18-9.0; Sleepy Eye Jose Ibarra 1-7; E. Fischer 1-2; Sellner 1-0; Tauer 1-0; Others 1-0.
PUNTS (No., Yds., Avg.) Minneota-Saltzer 2-70-35.0; Tate Walerius 1-21-21.0. Sleepy Eye-Trevino 2-72-36.0
PUNT RETURNS: No., yds.) Minneota-Sterzinger 1-0. Sleepy Eye-None.
TACKLES: (Solo-Assists: Minneota-Shawn Buysse 3-8; Blake Reiss 3-7; Mitchell Rost 0-7; Logan Sussner 3-2; Sterzinger 2-2; T. Hennen 2-1; L. Smith 2-1; Sanow 1-6; Cole VanOverbeke, Ty Lipinski and Beau Banish 1-4 each; Austin Sorenson 1-0; J. Hennen, Kloos, Joseph Rypinsk 0-1. Sleepy Eye-Cortez 9-0, Berg 5-1; Tauer 5-2; Fischer, I. Johnson, R. Martinez 4-1 each; Meyer 2; Walter 3-1; Muyers 2-1; Valasquez 2-2; Trevino 2-0; Sellner 1-0.
SACKS: Minneota: Sussner; Sleepy Eye C. Myers, Berg, Fischer
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Sleepy Eye: Myers, Cortez.
INTERCEPTIONS: Minneota-Sterzinger, Sanow.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Minneota: Reiss; Sleepy Eye 1.