Line 'tested and true' in shutout over Dawson-Boyd

A year ago, Mitchell Rost was watching all the action from the sidelines.
But this year the junior was thrust into an almost new line — and Saturday he and several others responded for a 28-0 shutout of arch-rival Dawson-Boyd.
The win put the Vikings in the Section 5A finals at 11 a.m. Friday against BOLD at SMSU in Marshall.
“We didn’t play much last year,” said Rost. “Today we all played good as a team. We were really helping each other.”
Rost, who mans a guard position on offense and plays linebacker on defense, felt the win over Dawson-Boyd was a matter of, “Good coaches showing us what to do and today we did it.”
Linemen like T.J. Esping put the pressure on quarterback Alex Swenson from the start and the senior thrower never got in sync.
In fact, Coach Chad Johnston credited a play by Isaac Hennen that may have thrown Swenson off his game.
After Minneota scored its first touchdown on an 11-yard pass  from Alex Pohlen to Skylar Gilbertson, Hennen broke through the Dawson-Boyd line and sacked Swenson for a 10-yard loss.
Right after that Swenson threw a pass intercepted by Minneota’s Landon Abraham that set up a 33-yard run by Hennen for a touchdown and 14-0 lead.
“Isaac got to him early and it seemed like that affected him and he pulled the trigger quicker (on passes),” said Coach Johnston.
The Vikings pulled a “Houdini” when they came away with a “Great Escape” to end the first half.
Gilbertson fumbled a punt and the Blackjacks Josh Anyasike recovered it on the Minneota 26 yard line. They drove the ball to the Viking one. But on first and goal at the one, Swenson and running back Bentley Boike mis-handled the handoff, fumbled and the Vikings' Cole VanOverbeke recovered on the five.
The first half ended 14-0 — but it could have been much different.
Esping, a senior tackle said, “We worked and pulled together today. I think the defense was the best we’ve played all year. Everyone did their part.”
The offensive line was called on to do just that in the second half.
They orchestrated a 70-yard drive in 13 plays that took over seven minutes and ended at 3:33 of the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Pohlen to Thomas Hennen.
“That was a series that broke Dawson’s back,” said Coach Johnston. “It took seven to eight minutes and it was huge,” he said.
But the real “dagger to Dawson’s heart” came when it seemed the Vikings were pinned back on their own 15 year line. With Ty Lipinski blocking at center, Rost, Esping and Ethan Krier and Cole VanOverbeke opening holes in the line, Cole Sanow broke through, veered to the right side of the field and ran the ball 85 yards for a 26-0 lead with nine minutes left in the game.
“Cole’s big run was the dagger,” Coach Johnston said.
The emergence of players like Cole VanOverbeke, who stepped up on offense and defense, gave the Viking defense more depth.
“We’d get more nice breaks with more depth,” said Esping. And he liked the way the young line players stepped up. VanOverbeke had seven tackles, one for a loss and he recovered the big fumble.
“They stepped up and took pressure off the others,” Esping said.
And you won’t have two runners with over 100 yards each if the line isn’t doing its job.
On this day, Isaac Hennen burst through the Dawson-Boyd defense for 142 yards on 20 carries and Sanow rushed 11 times for 120 yards.
Some opponents may have thought Minneota was an “Isaac Hennen team” going into the season.
Coach Johnston proclaimed this to be anything but the case. “This is a team,” he said, adding, “Isaac just wants to be back in the state and he does whatever is asked of him.”
Minneota didn’t go much to the passing game, as quarterback Pohlen had just 86 yards passing. But by-and-large, they didn’t need it with the running game working so effectively.
But it was that defense that had Coach Johnston smiling. He singled out Shawn Buysse, who really stepped up at linebacker and had nine tackles and the coach said of the defense, “We felt they had the ability. But they just had to do things.
“We’ve seen these kids grow through the year,” Coach Johnston said, adding, “Now we have all kinds of balance.”
That’s allowed the coaching staff to move Isaac Hennen around and use him where he and the team could be successful. And it’s paid off.
And for that, players like Esping give the coaching staff much of the credit.
“The coaches give us the game plan and we get the job done,” he said.

BOLD defeated Lac qui Parle Valley 57-0 to advance to Friday’s section final against Minneota.
“BOLD is the team to beat. The team that comes out of that game will be battle tested,” said Coach Johnston.
In fact, he indicated the team that comes out of Section 5A likely could make a solid push for a state championship.

NOTE: Because the Vikings play at 11 a.m. on Friday, there will be NO SCHOOL that day.