Off to state ... again

Jake Kachinske

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ESKO-On the final play of the first quarter in the Section 5 nine-man football game last Friday, Cromwell-Wright senior quarterback Drew Libbon was knocked out of bounds on a scramble towards his own sideline. After a lengthy delay, he was back-boarded off the field by medical personnel and later diagnosed with a dislocated hip and did not return.

That could have been disastrous for the Cardinals.

Leading only 6-0 at that point, the Cardinals defense took over. Aided by a Cameron Cahoon interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter and a third-quarter Kannon Korpela 45-yard fumble return to the end zone, Cromwell-Wright overcame the loss of their quarterback/linebacker to secure the Section 5 championship over South Ridge 26-8. In all, C-W forced three turnovers, scoring on two of them.

The Cards are section champions three years running and now in their 19th state tournament in school history. They will match up with Section 6 entrant Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal in the state Nine-Man quarterfinals Friday night at 7 p.m. at Bemidji State University.

Cromwell-Wright head coach Jeff Gronner may have been having flashbacks from his team's state quarterfinal in Bemidji the season before.

"Our team was unfazed," the longtime coach said. "Last year when we lost Nic Johnson early in the Stephen game, the guys went flat for a while. Not this game. We added a couple wrinkles at halftime with Kannon taking snaps (on offense)."

Another defensive key for the Cardinals was their containment of South Ridge senior running back Joe Janke, who came into the day with more than 2,000 yards as the state's leading rusher.

"We stopped Janke by bringing an extra LB up from the secondary, and the play of (senior) AJ House and (freshman) Zevvus Smith in the middle of defense caused confusion for their line and those two played their best games of the season," Gronner said.

While Janke did not find the end zone, he did finish with 102 yards rushing on the night. He had to work for it, however, needing 35 carries to do so. South Ridge head coach Brent Johnson later echoed what everyone at the game witnessed.

"They used their speed on defense to disrupt us on and off," Johnson said. "And they had a couple of big plays on defense. I think stat-wise we were pretty even."

Besides the defensive accolades for Cromwell-Wright, Korpela scored on a 51-yard touchdown in the first quarter and finished with 125 yards on the ground, carrying the ball 16 times. The senior RB also added a 2-yard run late in the fourth to cap the scoring. Junior back Matt Clark scored the lone touchdown for the Panthers from 1 yard out in the fourth quarter.

In the battle of unbeatens, South Ridge finished a strong season at 9-1. Johnson said it was a fantastic season overall.

"It was the first time in the seven years of South Ridge that we have gone undefeated in the regular season," he said. "Next year, we should still be pretty solid. I would like to wish Cromwell the best of luck on their road to state."

Cromwell remained undefeated at 11-0, but the win came with a cost, and Gronner knows it won't be easy Friday without his starting quarterback and leading tackler.

"NCE/U-H is a very solid team," he warned. "They have a physical defense, and a multiple-formation offense that can run or throw. Without Drew we are the underdog, but I will not count our boys out after what I saw last night. We have a lot of work to do on offense this week. The big thing will be to get comfortable in what we need to do."