---

Totino Grace 41, CL 21

Two first-half Wildcat turnovers led to 14 points for the Totino-Grace Eagles. A disastrous second quarter allowed the Eagles to build a 34-10 halftime lead. The Wildcats moved the ball well in the second half, but the 24 point deficit proved to be too big of a hill to climb as they lost to the highly-ranked ranked Eagles 41-21 Friday, September 14 at the Totino Grace campus in Fridley.

It looked like it was going to be a long night for the Wildcats on the opening drive of the game. The Eagles cruised down the field with little resistance from the Wildcat defense to go up 7-0 just three minutes into the game. But, the Wildcat offense moved the ball confidently on their opening drive, as well. Facing third and 5 from their own 20, quarterback Andy Willhite rolled left and threw back against his body in the direction of running back Brandon Mueller. Mueller dove toward the sideline and made a sensational catch for an 18-yard gain.

On third and eight from the Wildcat 39, Mueller caught a middle screen, cut right and ran 17 yards for another Wildcat first down. Running back Jon Lien ran for 15 yards later in the drive. The drive stalled at the 13 yard line. Brandon Mueller's field goal split the uprights and pulled the Wildcats within 7-3 with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Wildcat defense woke up and held the Eagles to three-and-out on the Eagles' next possession. The Eagles lined up to punt from their own 36 yard line. After the ball was snapped, Wildcat Shane Butcher knifed through the middle and blocked the punt. The ball popped a few feet up into the air. Tony Skoog picked the ball out of the air and ran it to the Eagle 18. On second and seven from the 15, Mueller ran nine yards around right end to give the Wildcats first and goal at the six. One play later, Jake Spehar plowed up the middle from the one to put the Wildcats in the lead just over 30 seconds into the second quarter. Mueller's extra point was good, and the Wildcats led 10-7.

But the lead lasted for less than two minutes. On third and six from his own 40, Totino Grace quarterback Jordan Marshall hit a wide open Paah Zeah in stride and he outraced the Wildcat defenders all the way to the end zone. That put the Eagles back on top, 14-10.

The Wildcats started their next drive in good field position as Mike Gryte returned a short kickoff to the Wildcat 42 yard line. Then the turnover bug bit the Wildcats. They fumbled on the second play from scrimmage and the Eagles recovered. Totino scored in eight plays to go up 21-10.

The Wildcats started the next drive from their own 20. A five yard penalty for illegal substitution pushed them back to the 15. Mueller took the next handoff and went off tackle. He appeared stopped at the line of scrimmage, but he bulled his way forward, shedding tacklers for a gain of 13 yards.

But, the Wildcats were intercepted on the next play, and the Eagles ran the ball back to the Wildcat 28. On the first play after the interception, Marshall lofted the ball toward the left sideline near the five yard line. Rob Wilson defended the play well, but a great throw by Marshall and a great leaping catch by Zeah put the ball on the two. The Eagles went over the goal line one play later to extend their lead to 28-10.

The Wildcats were forced to punt on their next drive, and the Eagles took over with less than two minutes remaining in the half. Facing third and seven from their own 49, with 22 seconds remaining in the first half, Marshall threw a perfect pass down the right sideline, hitting Zeah over his left shoulder, in stride at the 10 yard line. Zeah pranced into the end zone to put the Eagles up 34-10 with 10 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Eagles squibbed the ensuing kickoff. Gryte picked the ball up at the 30, cut left and raced down the left sideline toward the end zone, stiff-arming a couple of Eagles along the way. An Eagle player caught him just five yards from pay dirt as the half ended.

A nice runback by Jon Lien gave the Wildcats great field position at the beginning of the third quarter. The Wildcats drove 45 yards in 10 plays, capped off by Mike Rosenthal's two yard plunge for a touchdown. Willhite bootlegged around left end for two points to pull the Wildcats to within 34-18.

After the teams exchanged punts, the Eagles started a drive from their own 11 yard line. On third and eight, Ryan Waddell burst through the line and sacked Marshall for a seven yard loss. A short punt and a five yard return by Lien gave the Wildcats the ball on the Totino Grace 30. The Wildcats got two first downs, but the drive stalled at the six. Mueller kicked a 23-yard field goal to make the score 34-21 Eagles.

The Wildcats got the ball back with 9:23 remaining. But they were intercepted again, and the Eagles took over on their own 24 yard line. They moved the ball quickly downfield, scoring on a 20 yard TD pass to make the final score Totino Grace 41, Chisago Lakes 21.

"We had a bad second quarter and dug ourselves a deep hole," said Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss. "And when you're playing a high end team like Totino, you don't get a chance to make up that many mistakes. Even though we cut the lead to 13 at one point in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late.

"Brandon Mueller's play speaks for itself," continued Weiss. "He was clearly a bright spot for our team tonight. He set the tone for us with his high level of play. We've got a lot of playmakers, and Brandon made the most of the opportunities presented to him tonight. His kicking has been a plus for us, too. It's nice to know when you get into the red zone, even if the drive stalls, you can get three points out of it. So, tonight he ran the ball well, caught the ball, kicked a couple of field goals and filled in on defense when we asked him to. He had a solid night."

Mueller led the Wildcats in rushing with 114 yards on 20 carries, and also caught two passes for 34 yards.

Weiss talked about one of the Wildcats' unsung heroes. "Tony Gall has consistently played well for us," said Weiss. "He's a throwback. Even though he has some injuries - a dinged-up elbow, a twinge somewhere else - he just goes out there and plays. He's a big, tough player who controls the middle of the defensive line for us.

"Tonight, the Eagles' highly touted fullback didn't have too much success because of too much Gall in the middle, with help from the rest of the defensive line. Tony has played very well for us so far this year, and Friday was no exception. Our players and coaches all know how good he is, but the casual fan may not even notice him out there. Tony defines tough, old-time football. He's kind of a lineman's version of C.J. Hoffman and he's a fun guy to coach," Weiss concluded.

SCORING SUMMARY

1 2 3 4 T

Chisago Lakes 3 7 8 3 21

Totino Grace 7 27 0 7 41

The Wildcats will host longtime rival and conference foe North Branch at 7 p.m. this Friday at Chisago Lakes. "The Vikings are struggling a little this year," said Weiss. "But this is a game everyone points to. Our communities are similar. I think the other teams in the conference view us as the two teams from the sticks. We kind of like it that way. We have a sort of common bond with the Vikings. Since this is our closest rivalry, we know they'll be up for the game and ready to come after us. Some of our most competitive games have been against the Vikings. It should be fun."

---