October 13, 2017 at 12:38 p.m.
Chisago Lakes football finds magic in mixing quarterbacks vs St. Francis
Chisago Lakes football finds magic in mixing quarterbacks vs St. Francis
Wildcat quarterback Henry Trost rushed for 229 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Wildcat football team to a 49-19 thrashing of the St. Francis Fighting Saints. The Wildcats led 21-0 after the first quarter and 35-0 at the half and never really let the Fighting Saints back into it. Wildcat head coach Bill Weiss said, “We played up to our potential in all three phases of the game – offense, defense and special teams. We played well together and were able to do some good things.”
On the opening drive, two runs up the middle by Trost and a personal foul penalty moved the ball from the St. Francis 47 to the 3. Trost took the ball up the middle and dove into the end zone for a touchdown. After Ryan Mower kicked the extra point, the Wildcats led 7-0 with 9:50 left in the first quarter. Later in the quarter, on second and nine from the Saints’ 35, Matt Mohr ran for 16 yards for a Wildcat first down. On the next play, Trost took it up the middle for 19 yards and another touchdown.
Mitch Barrett came in to play quarterback on the next series for the Wildcats, with Trost shifting to halfback. From the Saints’ 47, Trost took a pitch left, raced down the sideline, broke a tackle at the 15 and was knocked out at the one. Manny Rosario plowed up the middle and into the end zone to make the score 21-0 at the end of one.
Midway through the second quarter, St. Francis went for it on fourth and one from their own 19 – and they made it. But on the next play, Owen Dresel stripped the ball and Terrell Ayers recovered at the 20. Two plays later, Rosario went up the middle for 12 yards and a TD. And with just under two minutes left in the second quarter, the Wildcats faced third and three from their own 41. Trost called his own number, plowed through the middle, broke one more tackle and raced to the end zone to make the score 35-0 at the half.
With Barrett in at quarterback and nine minutes left in the third quarter, the Wildcats had the ball first and ten at their own 44. Barrett rolled right and hit Rosario in stride at the 50. The Wildcat fullback turned on the jets and outran the St. Francis defense to the end zone for a touchdown and a 42-7 Wildcats lead.
The hit of the game came after the Saints scored near the end of the third quarter. They faked the extra point and the holder pitched it to the kicker running right. Dresel hit the kicker so hard that the kicker’s helmet popped off. And the two-pointer was no good. (And don’t worry, the kicker didn’t get hurt.) Barrett threw an 18 yard touchdown pass to Peter Vitalis with 3:40 left in the game to make the final score 49-19.
Using both Trost and Barrett at quarterback makes opposing defenses deal with two different styles. Weiss said “For Henry to have the versatility to play halfback in addition to quarterback adds to what we can do offensively. Terrell Ayers had some big plays on defense, including a fumble recovery, and some big plays on special teams, including a great open field tackle. Another guy who played well was Owen Dresel. He was all over the field making hits and forced the fumble Terrell recovered. Beau Stiller is another guy who was pretty active at the linebacker position. He forced a fumble and just made things happen. And just like our team, Manny Rosario improves every week. He had a real breakout game Friday night, running the ball well and catching the long TD pass.”
Football Notes
The Wildcats (1-5) will welcome the Buffalo Bison (2-4) to Chisago Lakes High School tomorrow night at 7 p.m. for Homecoming. This is another winnable game for the Wildcats.
Weiss said, “Buffalo is another solid district team. They throw the ball all over the place. They have a good quarterback and a bunch of nice receivers. They can run the ball, too, and are pretty consistent defensively. It will be a good challenge for us.”
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