Lose Hennen, Sterzinger from lineup

Despite prevailing 23-8 over Sleepy Eye last Thursday night in Sleepy Eye, the Vikings lost starting quarterback Jacob Hennen to a broken wrist late in the game and senior wide receiver Tanner Sterzinger.
 
Starting wingback and cornerback, Tanner Sterziner, a senior, had pain in his foot before the game and had it stepped on during the season opener.
Sterzinger re-aggravated is his foot injured when he was stepped on. It was learned later that he has a small fracture and will be in a walking boot for two weeks.
 
Hennen had surgery on his left wrist Sunday afternoon and will be in a cast for three to four weeks, plus another three to four weeks recovery time.
 
‘The procedure was considered a success,” said Barb Hennen, Jacob’s mother. “They were able to do the closed reduction with two pins.”
 
The closed reduction is a procedure where the bone is manipulated back into place without surgical exposure to re-set the bone.

“Jacob had actually tweaked his Achilles in fall camp and had two days off, so that gave us a chance to practice the ‘Wildcat’,” said Coach Chad Johnston.
Moving forward, Coach Johnston said, “We have a freshman, Kade Lozinski, who has had an opportunity to take a few reps at practice. But since we play Dawson-Boyd in the next game, we’re not going to throw him into the fire right away.”
 
Johnston said they would continue to use the “Wildcat” formation with Sanow lining up behind center in the next game, as well as having Thomas Hennen taking snaps under center.”
 
“We can’t rely on the ‘Wildcat’ all the time,” Johnston said. “We have to throw the ball, too.”
 
With the starting quarterback and wingback injured, as well as having to possibly take Thomas Hennen out of his receiver spot at times to play quarterback, Minneota will have to replace three of its 11 offensive starters.
 
“We will have to limit our playbook and not be as wide open until we get a chance to work things out,” said Johnston. “That’s the things about a small school. We don’t have 80 kids on the sidelines.”
 
At Sleepy Eye, “We were moving the ball pretty well on that drive,” said Hennen. “I had made a big run of 43 yards a few plays before I got hurt.”
 
Minneota led 16-8 at the time with 5:13 remaining and the Vikings facing fourth-and-goal from the six yard line.
 
“It was fourth down and Coach Myrvik (the offensive coordinator) called for me to run the ball behind (running back) Cole Sanow again because it had been working,” Hennen explained.
 
“I was heading for the corner of the end zone and stuck my (left) arm out to fend off the tackler and another guy hit me from the other side and knocked the ball loose. He fell on me and I actually landed with my weight on my wrist.”
 
Hennen said there was no pain initially to his non-throwing wrist.
 
“It didn’t hurt until I looked at it and saw it was kind of mis-shaped,” he said. “Then it started to hurt and when the trainer came out to look at it, the wrist kind of went numb.”
 
There was 5:13 remaining in the game, the sophomore signal-caller attempted to stretch the ball over the goal line. The ball popped loose and rolled out of the back of the end for a safety.
 Hennen’s parents took him to the hospital in Marshall with an x-ray revealing a fracture at the end of the radius.
 
It is unknown if Hennen will be able to return later in the season. For now, it appears unlikely.
 
“I’m really bummed,” he said. “I was looking forward to playing with an experienced line and such a good team.”
 
 The Vikings have no other experienced quarterback and instead relied on their “Wildcat” offense the rest of the game with running back Cole Sanow taking direct snaps from center, Sanow did score on a running play out of that formation to cap the scoring late in the game and seal the win for the Vikings.
 
Hennen completed 8-of-17 passes for 156 yards, including a 51-yard scoring strike to older brother Thomas Hennen that broke an 8-8 tie in the third quarter. Jacob Hennen also ran for 26 yards (with sack yardage subtracted).