Cards deck reigning state champs

When Cromwell-Wright took the field on Halloween night it seemed like all odds were stacked against them. The Cardinals were facing an undefeated team, last year's state champions, and the top-ranked team in nine-player football this season. Nevis had beaten them by 40 points a little over a month before hte Section 5 title game on Halloween night in Brainerd.

Add to the odds the fact that Cromwell-Wright's starting quarterback was dealing with an injury. All that, and none of it mattered as the Cardinals carved out a 20-14 win.

"I knew we could play with them despite what happened in the first game," said Cardinals coach Jeff Gronner. "They played their best game of the year in that first game and we played our worst, so I knew it would be tighter."

Eli Klimek gave the Tigers the first quarter lead by scoring on an 18-yard touchdown run, but Nevis failed on the two-point conversion, making it 6-0. That touchdown happened on the last play of the first quarter. Cromwell-Wright answered quickly by scoring on the first play from scrimmage in the second when quarterback Dylan Nyberg raced 60 yards for the touchdown, tying the game at 6-6 after a failed extra point kick.

"It was a great way to answer and that got our team pumped up," Gronner said. "Unfortunately, later in the quarter Dylan hurt his knee again. Our trainer recommended that we not put him back in, so we had to play the rest of the game without him."

The loss of the senior Nyberg meant the Cards had to turn to freshman quarterback Brenden Gronner - the coach's son.

"We've been playing Brenden quite a bit and we are lucky we did, because he went in and didn't let the moment be too big for him," Gronner said.

Nevis got the lead back when they scored on a Davan Lindow 17-yard touchdown run. The Tigers tacked on the two-point conversion and took a 14-6 halftime lead.

Sophomore sensation Drew Nyberg injured his foot and was less than full strength in the running game, but the Cardinals persevered. Gronner scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge but another failed two-point conversion attempt kept the Cards down 14-12.

"Our defense was fantastic all day and in that second half they just dominated," Gronner said. "With Dylan out and Drew hurting, we had to rely on Brady Dahl - and he was unbelievable. Brady ran like a man possessed."

At the end of the first half, Dahl had just seven rushing yards on three carries. By the time the game ended, Dahl had run for 119 yards on 24 carries.

Trailing by two points, the Cards got a big play when Lane Gervais cracked off a 47-yard run that put the ball deep in Tiger territory. A few plays later, facing a fourth down and three at the 17-yard line, Gronner launched a pass to the end zone toward Drew Nyberg, injured foot and all.

"It turns out Drew was playing on a broken toe, but he still went up between two defenders and pulled the pass in for a touchdown," Gronner said.

The touchdown gave the Cards a 20-14 lead after Dahl barreled in for the two-point conversion. From that point on, it was the Cromwell-Wright defense that carried the day.

"We stopped them on fourth down late in the game and then we got stopped," Gronner said. "They hit four passes and went right down the field to our 20-yard line."

With 20 seconds remaining, the Cards got a huge play from Tucker Korpi, who hit the quarterback for a sack and fumble recovered by Cromwell-Wright.

An upset was afoot.

"The first time we played them we got physically manhandled on the line," Gronner said. "This time we outplayed them on the line and that was a big difference. You could see as the game went on that they were getting frustrated while our confidence began to grow."

Cromwell-Wright was scheduled to face Fertile-Beltrami at Moorhead High School on Thursday, in the quarterfinal round of the Minnesota State High School League Nine-Player Tournament.

"When I first got here I took going to State for granted," Gronner said. "This is our first time going back after six years. I wanted so bad for our seniors to get a chance to know that feeling."

After the win, the Cards had a wild on-field celebration, topped off by an emotional Gronner gathering his team together and giving a speech that brought cheers from the team and fans who had gathered to celebrate.