One game at a time
Published 10:45 am Monday, November 14, 2016
- Grand Meadow’s Blake Benson wraps up Edgerton-Ellsworth quarterback Landon Buckridge during the first quarter in the quarterfinals of the Nine Man State Football Tournament Friday night in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
It’s hard to conceive how impressive the Grand Meadow football team’s current 48-game winning streak is.
For the past few seasons, the Superlarks have taken everybody’s best shot and walked away with a win. They’ve had to overcome some injuries, some deficits and every so often, they have to overcome adversity.
Friday night saw GM face injuries and adversity, but you would’ve never known it if you were on the GM sidelines. The Superlarks had a couple of players leave the game early on with injuries as Edgeron-Ellsworth began to find some success with its running game in a scoreless contest.
But the GM coaches and players didn’t panic. They did what they do best — they improvised and they executed. GM senior running back Christophor Bain made a slight adjustment by running inside instead of outside and the Superlark defense was able to figure out what the Flying Dutchmen were doing and they stopped it.
Grand Meadow running back Christophor Bain works his way through the Edgerton-Ellsworth defense during the first quarter in the quarterfinals of the Nine Man State Football Tournament Friday night in Rochester. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Nobody on the GM sideline lost their cool, and even as the E-E crowd started getting louder I didn’t see a sense of fear on anyone on the GM sideline.
Part of what makes the GM winning streak so impressive is the fact that it is so long, but I honestly think the Superlarks feel that they are always chasing a one-game winning streak. When they take the field, they don’t carry the burden of past teams or even past weeks. They’re simply focused on winning the game in front of them.
Theeir focus has been one of their biggest weapons over the last five seasons and it’s made them one of the best programs in the state of Minnesota. When GM, which has won the last three state titles, takes the field in the Class Nine Man semifinals in US Bank Stadium 9 a.m. Friday, there is no doubt that they will be locked in. The Larks won’t be thinking about a possible title game appearance and they won’t be thinking about keeping their streak alive.
They’ll just be trying to win the next game.
Minnesota State Nine Man Football Tournament
Quarterfinals
Grand Meadow 36, Edgerton-Ellsworth 0
Waubun 41, Stephen-Argyle 18
Cleveland/Immanuel Lutheran 39, Hillcrest Lutheran 22
Cromwell-Wright 35, Ely 7
Semifinals
Cleveland/Immanuel Lutheran , 11:30 a.m. Thursday
Grand Meadow vs. Waubun, 9 a.m. Friday
Championship
10 a.m. Nov. 25
*All remaining games played at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
