---

Princeton 27, Chisago Lakes 16

The Princeton Tigers used two touchdown runs of 80 yards or more – one in the first quarter and one in the third quarter – and ate up a lot of clock with a couple of long drives long drives to beat the Wildcats 27-16 last Friday, October 3 at Chisago Lakes High School.  It was the first win of the year for the Tigers (1-5), and the Wildcats dropped to a 1-5 record for the season.

The Tigers scored on the game’s first play from scrimmage.  Starting on their own 20 after Owen Morley’s kickoff sailed through the end zone, Colton Johnson took the handoff, burst through the line, and outraced the Wildcat secondary all the way to the end zone.  The extra point doinked off the left upright, but the Tigers led 6-0 just 14 seconds into the game.

The Wildcats surprised everyone with a pass on their first play.  Starting from the 23, Wildcat quarterback Kellen Meissner took the snap, turned and fired a quick pass to Zack Karst near the right sideline,  Karst headed upfield and was knocked out of bounds at the Tiger 46 after a 31-yard gain.  But on the next play, the line collapsed, and three Princeton linemen hit Meissner as he turned to pitch the ball.  The ball popped loose, and the Tigers fell on it at their own 49-yard line.  The Tigers then went on a punishing 14 play drive that ate up most of the rest of the first quarter.  They had 12 runs of two to six yards each in that stretch.  On fourth and goal from the two, Nolan Kraker took the handoff and went through a big hole into the end zone standing up for a touchdown.  Kraker took a pitch left and scored on the two-point conversion attempt, and the Tigers led 14-0.

The Wildcats went three and out on the next drive, and the Tigers took over at their own 23 after a short punt by Morley.  On the ninth play of the drive, Princeton faced fourth and five at the Wildcat 31.  Tiger quarterback Drew Ulson overthrew a receiver deep down the left sideline, and the Wildcats took over on downs.  The teams exchanged punts on the next two drives, and the Wildcats started at their own 31.  On first down from the 42, Meissner kept the ball, took it around right end, and took advantage of some great downfield blocking by Bennett Senske to gain 22 yards.  Six plays later, on second and nine from the Tiger 24, Meissner hit Jacob Grabow on a slant pattern at the 15.  Grabow spun out of the grasp of one tackler, who grabbed him again at the ten.  Several Tigers joined in, and, in a Herculean effort, Grabow dragged the lot of them nine yards, where they finally pulled him down at the one.  After a five-yard penalty for illegal procedure, Meissner hit a wide open Reese Nasvik with a pass to the left.  He waltzed into the end zone and, after Owen Morley’s extra point, the Wildcats trailed 14-7 going into halftime.

Diesel Lundeen went up the middle for successive runs of 14 and 16 yards to open the second half.  But the drive stalled at the Princeton 20.  From the left hashmark, Morley nailed a 37-yard field goal that would have been good from 50 yards, and the Wildcats had cut the Tiger lead to 14-10.  Due to a penalty on the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers started the next drive on their own eight-yard line.  On second and six from the 12, Julson handed the ball off to Kraker.  Kraker burst into the open through a hole up the middle and ran 88 yards for a touchdown.  After an ugly extra point wobbled through the uprights, the Tigers led 21-10.

The Wildcat drive stalled at midfield, and, after a short punt return, Princeton started at their own 22.  The Tigers them went on an epic 20-play drive that ate up a huge chunk of the clock.  On the 20th play of the drive, Kraker scored from the two, and the Tigers led 27-10.  Carter ANderson fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 25, headed up the middle though a nice hole and was off to the races.  He was finally hauled down at the three-yard line.  A very weak holding penalty – the Wildcat player penalized was not holding the player, but the referee who was behind him assumed the hold – moved the ball back to the Princeton 25.  On first and goal from the ten, Meissner handed the ball off to Lundeen, who pinballed his way into the end zone for a touchdown.  On the two-point attempt, Meissner was stuffed on a keeper, and the Wildcats trailed 27-16.

On the onside kick attempt, the ball bounced about 15 feet in the air on the second bounce, the highest bounce I’ve ever seen on an onside kick at any level of football.  A Tiger player outleaped everyone, caught the ball and fell on it at the Tiger 40.  The Wildcats force a three and out.  After the punt, the Wildcats took over at their own 18-yard line.  On fourth and 12 from the sixteen, the Wildcats waved the white flag and punted.  The Tigers ran out the clock, and the Wildcats lost 27-16.

Wildcat head coach Ryan Anderson said “The one long play to start the game and the two play drive to give them the ball right back were pretty painful early on.  It was still pretty early at that point and certainly not time to panic.  But they were sustaining drives, including that 20-play drive.  Hats off to them. That kept our offense off the field. They were essentially playing defense with their offense.  Running backs Reese Nasvik and Zack Karst did some nice things, both with and without the ball, when they had their opportunities.  We only had 180 yards of total offense because we just didn’t have the ball for very long.  Defensively, having Cole Stilp back there is always nice, even if his hand is in a cast.  Our safeties, Logan Senske and Carter Anderson, played well back there for us, too.  They did some nice things.”

Meissner stayed on the sidelines late in the game, but there is no need for Wildcat fans to worry.  Anderson said “Kellen was pretty banged up.  He is a tough kid, and he certainly didn’t want me to take him out, but sometimes you have to protect players from themselves.  We think he’ll be just fine going into next week’s game.”

Football Notes

The Wildcats (1-5-0) will take on the South St. Paul Packers (5-1-0) tomorrow night at Ettinger Field in South St. Paul in the second-to-last game of the regular season.  “The Packers run the power-T,” said Anderson. “a lot like North Branch is running these days. They do a nice job.  For us, the biggest thing is that we need to stay disciplined with our defense.  We have to make sure we are covering our gaps and not shooting them and that our linebackers are making their reads.  If we do those things, I think we will be all right.  Since they will have some long drives, like Princeton, on offense we need to make sure to take care of the ball and put points on the board when we have the opportunity to do so.”

---