Total domination

If anyone can appreciate the effort of the offensive line it’s Alex Pohlen.
The Viking quarterback walked off the field after Minneota totally dominated Yellow Medicine East, 80-6 and said, “I didn’t get touched at all.”
While the Vikings piled up the stats — 611 total yards to 168 — the real story was in the line, offensively and defensively.
“Our line dominated,” said Pohlen. “They opened big holes,” the senior quarterback said.
They were just as impressive on defense, sacking YME quarterbacks twice and tackling runners three other times for lost yards.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our line,” Pohlen said. Guys like Ethan Krier, T.J. Esping, Mitchell Rost, center Ty Lipinski and others were blowing holes big enough to “drive a truck through,” as they say.
The results were a 61-0 first half explosion that caused Coach Chad Johnston and staff to pull most of his starter the second half.
The Vikings scored every time they had the ball, a total of nine times in the first half.
And the plays were explosive. Cole Sanow blasted through the line for 25-yard  and a 32-yard runs to pay dirt. Isaac Hennen ripped off a 38-yard run then took a 68-yard pass from Pohlen to score and Sanow came back with another 30-yard sparkling run. When Hennen intercepted a Nick Lindstrom pass and ran 54 yards for a touchdown, it was 54-0.
Sanow scored again on a 31-yard pass from Pohlen for his fourth touchdown of the game and that put an end to playing time for the Minneota starters.
“This was a nice win in the playoffs. We’ve got to play our best games now,” the Viking quarterback said.
The Viking defensive line was also superb. Isaac Hennen, who led the team with a sack, seven tackles and three tackles for lost yards was the key.
Josh Laleman added a sack and Shawn Buysse again led from his linebacker position with six tackles and a recovered fumble.
Sanow ended with 107 yards rushing and Isaac Hennen had 97.
Then there was Pohlen, who stood behind a line that didn’t let him get touched and hit six of nine passes for 138 yards.
THE RESERVES also did well. Second string quarterback Jacob Hennen hit five of five passes for 183 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Sterzinger and a 53-yard scoring strike to Blake Reiss.
LaShad Smith also scored from 11 yards out in the second half. As the backup kicker, Smith came into the game and kicked three of seven point after attempts.
Leading the defense in the second half was Layne Lozinski, who had six tackles and kept the Sting from getting outside.
YME finally scored with nine seconds left in the game when David Hidalgo took an 11-yard pass from Angel Jimenez to keep the Sting from getting shutout.
Blake Reiss and Austin Kloos also came up strong on defense. Kloos tweaked a sore leg and had to leave the game.
Cole VanOverbeke stayed in the game the second half and became a strong force in the line, ending with five tackles and Mitchell Rost also had five tackles.
NICE TO SEE: Extra point tries have been a “burr in the saddle” of the Vikings all year.
But Pohlen has been improving as the kicker and Tuesday night hit four of four attempts and each one was a booming kick.
“I’m getting the technique down,” Pohlen said.
And ... Jacob Hennen and Landon Abraham have been steady tacklers on kickoffs. Both have several tackles to stop opponents in the last two games.
Minneota will play at 3 p.m. Saturday at K. P. Kompelien Field in Minneota. Dawson-Boyd, a 56-14 winner over Ortonville.
BOLD defeated Lakeview 81-0 and will face Lac qui Parle Valley, a 48-19 winner over Canby.

YME             0    0     0     6    —    6
Minneota      28  33  13    6    —    80
First Quarter
Minneota-Cole Sanow 25 run. PAT-Alex Pohlen kick.
Minneota-Isaac Hennen 1 run. PAT-Pohlen kick.
Minneota-Sanow 32 run. PAT-Pohlen kick.
Minneota-Pohlen 1 run. PAT-LaShad Smith kick.
Second Quarter
Minneota-I. Hennen 38 run. PAT-Pohlen kick.
Minneota- I. Hennen 68 pass from Pohlen. PAT-Smith kick failed.
Minneota-Sanow 30 run. PAT-Smith kick failed.
Minneota-I. Hennen 30 pass interception. PAT-Smith kick.
Minneota-Sanow 31 pass from Jacob Hennen. PAT-Smith kick.
Third Quarter
Minneota-Smith 11 run. PAT-Smith kick.
Minneota-Tanner Sterzinger 54 pass from J. Hennen. PAT-Smith kick failed.
Fourth Quarter
Minneota-Blake Reiss 53 pass from J. Hennen. PAT-Smith kick failed.
YME-David Hidalgo 11 pass from Angel Jimenez. PAT-Run failed.

             Team Statistics
Minn.                                       YME
24         First Downs               9
3-1        Penalties/Yards         3-15
1-0        Fumbles/Lost            3-1
31-290  Rushes/Yards           18-140
321        Passing Yards          28
611        Total Yards               68

Individual Statistics
RUSHING: (Rushes, yards) Minneota Sanow 5-107; I.Hennen 8-97; L. Smith 6-36; Austin Kloos 2-22; Sterzinger 4-18; Reiss 3-6; T. Hennen 1-4; Pohlen 1-1; J. Hennen 1-minus 1. YME-Bryce Schmidt 7-78; Ethan Peterson 10-26; David Hidalgo 3-12; Angel Jimenez 4-10; Ayden Friese 7-8; Garrett Nordang 4-1.
PASSING: (No., comp., int., yds.) Minneota-Pohlen 9-6-0-138;  J. Hennen 5-5-0-183; YME-Jimenez 14-4-0-25; Nick Lindstrom 3-1-1-3.
RECEIVING: (No., yds.) Minneota-Sterzinger 2-69; I. Hennen 1-68; B. Reiss 1-53; Sanow 3-50; T. Hennen 2-38; Tate Walerius 1-30; Brant Buysse 1-13. YME-Friese 2-16; Hidalgo 2-9; Peterson 103.
KICKOFFS: (No., yds.) Minneota-Smith 9-350; Pohlen 4-195. YME-Hidalgo 2-8.
KICKOFF RETURNS: (No., yds.) Minneota-Joseph Rybinski 1-23; Skylar Gilbertson 1-18. YME-G. Nordang 6-12; Peterson 2-17; Hidalgo 3-9; Carter Sneller 1-15; Bryce Schmidt 1-14.
PUNTS: (No., yds., avg.) Minneota-None. YME-Hidalgo 6-204-34.0.
PUNT RETURNS: (No., yds.) Minneota-T. Hennen 3-0. YME-None.
TACKLES: (Solos-assists) Minneota-I. Hennen 5-2; Sterzinger 3-2; Shawn Buysse 3-3; Layne Lozinski 3-3; Sanow 2-1; Reiss 2-3; Pohlen 1-1; Kloos 1-4; T. Hennen, B. Buysse 1-0 each; Walerius 1-1; Cole VanOverbeke 1-4; Mitchell Rost 1-4; J. Rybinski 1-3; Josh Laleman 1-3; Alex Saltzer 1-1 Austin Sorensen, Lucas Bot, Logan Sussner, J. Josephson 1-0 each; Smith 0-3; J. Hennen, Landon Abraham 0-2 each; T. Lipinski, Ethan Krier, Zach Van Keulen, Beau Banish 0-1 each. YME-Nordang 3-2; Jimenez 2-1; Lindstro 2-2; Schmidt 2-3; Friese 2-2; L. LaBatte 1-2; others 5-12.
SACKS: Minneota-I. Hennen, J. Laleman. YME: None.
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Minneota-I. Hennen 2; Reiss. YME: None.
INTERCEPTIONS: Minneota-I. Hennen.
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Minneota-S. Buysse.