STATE CHAMPS!!!!!
Alex Pohlen wasn't shy concerning how he felt about Isaac Hennen.
"WE'VE GOT THE BEST RUNNING BACK IN MINNESOTA," Pohlen nearly shouted at the press conference following Minneota's 28-13 Class A State Championship win over Wabasso.
Pohlen, who guided the team as quarterback through four seasons, a major shoulder surgery, threw over 90 touchdown passes and well over 7,000 yards could easily have stood on his own laurels.
But he didn't ... adding, "He just dominated today!"
Hennen put the team on his broad shoulders, ran the ball 34 times and amassed 291 yards. He got up after being stung and came right back in to run a 52-yard touchdown.
So nobody thought a thing about it when Hennen took all the team's medals and hung them around his neck. Afterall, he'd just carried the team he loved to the state championship.
"Were you exhausted?" Hennen was asked.
"This stadium is a lot different than playing outdoors. It gets 70 to 75 degrees in here and it wears on you," he said.
During the third quarter, Hennen went down and had to be helped up. Visions of his brother Garrett injured in the state championship against Minneapolis North danced in your head.
But Hennen got up, wasted littled time and ran for the touchdown that put Minneota into the driver's seat.
"I got blind sided and got the wind knocked out of me. I needed time to get some water and get my breath back," said the Minnesota All-Star and Mr. Football finalist.
Did it ever occur to him he wasn't going back in the game?
"No, not for one second."
How about carrying the ball 34 times. "Did you think that would be the case?"
"I didn't think about it. I just kept expecting to get the ball one more time. We didn't plan it that way, it just went that way,"
Hennen's 291 yards, every one of them, came as the result of great blocking. When asked how he manages to wait on his blockers for the opening he said, "It's kind of natural. I take a step and where where the holes are."
Fact is, from Isaac Hennen's own mouth, "They (the line) were doing a GREAT job!"