Brainerd dispatches Wildcats in section finals

The Wildcats didn’t have an answer for Brainerd running backs Conor Gessell and Logan Davis, who combined to rush 49 times for 373 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Warriors to a 35-20 win over the Wildcats in last Friday night’s Section 7AAAAA championship game. The game was played in Brainerd. The loss ended the Wildcats’ season and sent the Warriors, who were in Section 8AAAAAA last season, to the state tournament for the second year in a row.

The Wildcats had a chance to cut into the Warriors’ 15 point lead midway through the fourth quarter. On fourth and 12 from the Wildcat 20, Brainerd quarterback Thomas Stoxen threw just his second pass of the game. The ball was deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by a Wildcat defensive lineman who was tackled immediately, and the Wildcats had the ball at their own 21 yard line with 6:30 remaining in the game. On third and ten, Wildcat quarterback Mitch Berg hit Joe Virga with a 13-yard pass to the right for a first down. On the next play, Berg again passed to Virga, this time to the left, to pick up 12 yards and another first down. Berg’s third completion in a row went up the middle to Michael Dunne for a gain of 14. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Warriors moved the ball all the way to the Warrior 25. After an incompletion, Berg completed a pass to the right to Jake McKenzie for ten yards and another Wildcat first down, at the Warrior 15, with 5:01 remaining. An illegal procedure penalty pushed the Wildcats back five yards.

Berg’s pass left to Will Gillach was knocked away. Another illegal procedure penalty moved the Wildcats back to the 25. Berg tried to hit Gillach in the back left corner of the end zone and a Brainerd defensive back dropped an interception, keeping the Wildcats’ hope alive. On third down, Berg went back to Gillach in the end zone, but the ball was knocked away. On fourth down, Berg lofted a pass down the middle. It looked like the ball would drop into Gillach’s hands five yards deep in the end zone, but a Brainerd defensive back leapt high and snatched the ball out of the air before it got to Gillach, effectively ending the Wildcats’ hopes. With 4:30 left in the game, Brainerd ran the ball eight times for three first downs and Stoxen took a knee twice to run out the clock and end the game. Things started out well for the Wildcats. They began the first drive of the game on their own 19 and started to move the ball. On second and two from their own 40, Berg hooked up with Virga for 27 yards to move the ball to the Warriors’ 33. Josh Parks ran for 12. On the next play, Berg rolled left on the option. As he was being dragged down, he pitched the ball to Virga, who ran down the left sideline before being pushed out of bounds at the 9 for another Wildcat first down. On fourth and goal from the one, Kaleb Paehlke took the handoff to the left and ran through a nice hole standing up into the end zone. Bryce Thompson kicked the extra point and the Wildcats led 7-0 with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter.

But then Brainerd began what would be a common theme throughout the game. Starting the ensuing drive from their own 31, and running behind two 270 pound offensive linemen, Gessell and Davis carried the ball mostly up the middle. The Warriors ran nine running plays, with each play gaining between five and 15 yards. Gessell took it into the end zone from the 12 to tie the game at 7-7. The Wildcats went three and out on their next possession. The Warriors returned Dunne’s punt to the Wildcat 29, but a personal foul penalty moved them back to the 44. Eight plays later, with less than a minute gone in the second quarter, Gessell took it over from the six and Brainerd led 14-7. Starting from their own 35 on the ensuing drive, the Wildcats moved the ball well. On second and 8 from the 37, Berg passed to tight end Josh Dutcher for 14 yards and a first down at the Warrior 49. On third and 2 from the 40, Parks took a handoff up the middle, spun left twice out of tackles and dragged another tackler for an eight yard gain and a first down. On fourth and four from the 25, Berg dropped back to pass. But he had a rusher in his face right away and had to dump the ball down the middle, where it dropped to the ground incomplete with 7:11 left in the first half.

The Warriors then went on a 14 play drive that took six minutes off the clock. On third and 13 from the Wildcat 32, Stoxen threw the first of his two passes for the game, hitting Quinn McElfresh right down the middle of the field for a 27 yard gain and a Warrior first down at the Wildcat 41. Seven plays later, Davis scored from the one and, after a missed extra point, the Warriors led 20-7.

Getting the ball back with just a minute left in the half, the Wildcats moved the ball well. They faced third and ten from the Warrior 22 with six seconds left in the half. Berg tried to hit Gillach down the middle, but the ball was intercepted at the five and returned to the Wildcat 40 to end the half.

Starting from their own 26 to open the second half, Brainerd took just three plays to score. Stoxen ran for 40 yards on the first play. Two plays later, Gessell took a pitch left, cut upfield to the left of the hash marks and outraced the Wildcat defense 31 yards to the end zone to put the Warriors up 27-7. The highlight play of the game for the Wildcats came on the ensuing drive. On first down from their own 31, Berg faked the ball to two Wildcat running backs and handed the ball to Gillach crossing in front of him from the left. Gillach ran to the right, but the Warriors had sniffed out the play and were waiting for him. As he neared the right sideline, Gillach reversed field and ran to the left. He went back ten yards as he avoided tacklers and, once he got between the hash marks, turned upfield. He ran all the way to the left sideline and was pushed out of bounds after a gain of 19 yards. He probably ran 100 yards for that gain.

Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss said “That was a designed reverse. They defended it well. I guess Will saw something on the other side and made something out of it. He’s a playmaking type of kid and just wanted to make something happen.” Later in the drive, Brainerd stopped the Wildcats on downs deep in Warrior territory. But the Wildcats then forced the Warriors into a three and out and took over on their own 37 with 5:17 left in the third quarter. Key plays on the drive included a 15 yard completion to Gillach and a 15 yard personal foul penalty. On second and ten from the 25, Berg hit Gillach right up the middle at the ten and Gillach broke a tackle, finally being pulled down at the three. Paehlke took the handoff and plowed up the middle, leaning over the goal line for a Wildcat touchdown to cut the Warrior lead to 27-14 with 3:35 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats tried a pooch kick, but Brainerd recovered the ball at their own 41. They only took three plays and 21 seconds to score again. Davis went over from the three and, after a successful two point conversion, the Warriors led 35-14. But the Wildcats hung in there. Berg used his arm to move the Wildcats down the field quickly, with receptions by Parks, McKenzie, Dunne and Gillach. With two seconds left in the third quarter, the Wildcats faced second and goal from the nine. Berg threw a pinpoint pass to the left between a couple of Warrior defenders and Gillach caught it a yard inside the end zone for a Wildcat touchdown. The extra point was no good, and the Wildcats trailed 35-20 with an entire quarter left in the game. But the Warriors went on another long drive, eating minutes off the clock. And when the drive ended with the interception, half the quarter was gone and the ensuing Wildcat drive fell short.

Weiss said “The bottom line is that the game was decided up front. We just didn’t match up well with their size and strength. They controlled the line of scrimmage when they were on offense and, for the most part, when we were on offense. We were able to do some things running on the perimeter and in the passing game, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. “Mitch passed for over 200 yards in the game. Even though we didn’t control things on the line of scrimmage, we had excellent pass protection. For as many times as he threw, the offensive line did an excellent job. Mitch was sacked only once. And we’ve played big teams before, but the difference is that they didn’t make any mistakes. You look for the opponent to self destruct and we just didn’t get any of those breaks. I was really proud of our guys. They never did let up. When we put ourselves in position to score and cut the lead in half late in the fourth quarter, as coaches we were discussing if we should try an onside kick or kick it deep and rely on our defense to come up with some big stops. The fact that we were still contemplating ways to try to win the game is a credit to just how hard our guys play the game.”