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Let’s Play Football
December 2, 2021
Prep Bowl 5A: Mankato West 24, Mahtomedi 10
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Mankato West completed their season with a perfect 13-0 record after a 24-10 win over Mahtomedi in the Class AAAAA state title game. It is the school’s fifth state championship.
Mankato West completes perfect season by MALIK MITCHELL
After seven years, Mankato West won their fifth championship over Mahtomedi after defeating St. Thomas Academy 2114 in the quarterfinals and Rogers 42-7 in the semifinals. Mankato West is now five-for-five in Prep Bowl championship games. The Scarlets finished their undefeated season with a record of 13-0 making this their first full undefeated season in program history. They broke another record, only allowing 4.9 points per game. The Scarlets have only surrendered 61 points this season while scoring a total of 561 points. Head coach JJ Helget said, “When you have a defense like that you can have a large differential in scoring because they’re constantly getting you the ball back on offense.” Teams rushed less than 70 yards per game and 107 total offense per game against the Scarlets. Last season, they were undefeated playing only six games. They won the Section 2AAAAA Semifinals before their season was cut short due to COVID. “To have that taken from them, really set the tone to realize we can’t take anything for granted,” Helget said. “We have to work and earn everything and we have to be humble and know that when an opportunity arises we have to take advantage of it.” Helget has been coaching football at Mankato West for the past 16 years. He
spent the first six years as an offensive line coach and then moved up to an offensive coordinator for five years winning two state championships during that run. During the last five years as head coach, Mankato West has gone 41-7 with 2 Sub-District Championships and one State Tournament Appearance. Senior Gibson Blackstad said, “He is very honest and he really pushed us to get better. He really cares about his players and winning the state championship would not have been possible without his great coaching.” Mankato West had chemistry and experience under their belt, returning 15 seniors which led to a dominant season. “Our senior group set a really good example of what Mankato West football is all about,” said Blackstad. “We all stuck together throughout our four years here at West and everyone had a role and accepted it.” This season’s stat leaders were Zander Dittbenner threw for 1,805 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also rushed for 457 and six more touchdowns. Walker Britz rushed for 1,185 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 98 yards per game. Mekhi Collins had 43 receptions for 766 yards and 19 touchdowns. Ryan Haley had 136 total tackles, 15 sacks, four fumble recoveries and two interceptions. The Scarlets finished the season with 561 points with 1,742 passing yards, and 2,273 rushing yards. On defense, they had a total of 547 total tackles, 44 sacks, 19 interceptions, and recovered eight fumbles.
Some seniors that are set to play at the collegiate level next year are wide receiver Mekhi Collins who is committed to North
Dakota State University. Mr. Football candidate, linebacker/running back Ryan Haley is committed to Brown University.
Brady Haugum making it 14-0 in the last seconds of the 1st quarter. “We saw them selling out on runs so hard so I told him before the drive, ‘hey we’re probably gonna run glance at some point, Brady’s gonna be wide open,’” said Helget. ‘Sell it and get it over the linebacker.’” To start the second quarter, out of nowhere Mahtomedi’s sophomore quarterback Charles Brandt hit senior wide receiver Ethan Loss on a corner route which put them into Mankato West’s territory. On the next play, they received a pass interference call which set them up just inside the 20 yard-line. They were unable to finish the drive settling for a 32-yard field goal but ended up missing the attempt. However, the Zephyrs got the ball back after Mankato West fumbled a hand off putting them back into Mankato’s territory. Things didn’t go their way due to Mankato West’s fast defense holding them to just a field goal making it 14-3 with nine minutes left in the quarter. Mahtomedi fought back with Ethan Loss intercepting a pass in their end zone and took it up the sideline to put them just above the 30 yard-line. He later caught a huge over the shoulder pass by the sideline, spinning some defenders off before going down. Mahtomedi tried to put some
points on the board but Joseph Heinsch’s 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by senior tight end/defensive end, Gibson Blackstad. That ended the first half with a score of 14-3. “Our special teams coordinator does a good job, he saw a couple things on tape that he thought we could get one,” Helget said. In the 3rd quarter, Mahtomedi’s Ethan Loss showed his speed as he beat his defender deep to come down with a diving catch. Mahtomedi then ran a sweep to Senior linebacker/running back Jordan Hull as he broke tackles before going down to land them on the 40-yard line. The big play led to senior Gunnar Woods wide receiver/defensive back catching an out route that got them inside the 5-yard line. Not long after, Mahtomedi got their first touchdown of the game with Hull pounding it in shortening Mankato’s lead 14-10. Mankato West responded with Dittbenner throwing to Blackstad after being left wide open, as he trotted into the end zone making it 21-10 with a little under two minutes left in the third quarter. “That score really just took a lot of pressure off of our defense and it also crushed all hope they had of winning,” said Blackstad.
A few drives later Mahtomedi’s Jordan Hull forced a fumble and was recovered by junior defensive linemen, John Johnson in the last seconds of the quarter. Their offense continued to struggle, failing to score on the next drive. However, they managed to recover another fumble in the start of the 4th quarter, but failed to score yet again. “We knew they had to throw the ball to beat us but we didn’t think on film that they could throw it consistently all the way down the field to score,” Helget said. Mankato West started to get things going again after a big run from Ryan Haley shifting through defenders and landing them on the 40-yard line. After dropping a touchdown pass on a third-and-nine, they kicked a field goal with four minutes left in the fourth quarter making it 24-10. After Mahtomedi failed to convert on a fourth down, Mankato West got the ball back with one minute left. They brought out the victory formation, taking a knee to end the game with a final score of 24-10. “Getting that stop helped seal the game and helped us win the game,” said Blackstad. Zander Dittbenner finished with 11 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Gibson Blackstad breaks free in Mankato West’s 24-10 win over Mahtomedi in the 5A Prep Bowl. Blackstad had a TD in the game as the Scarlets finished the season undefeated at 13-0.
Defense steps up to stop Zephyrs
by MALIK MITCHELL
The Mankato West Scarlets (13-0) beat the Mahtomedi Zephyrs (10-3) 24-10 to win the Class 5A state title. Their solid defense and their offensive play makers led the Scarlets to their best season in school history. Mankato West’s head coach JJ Helget said, “We knew that we deserved to be in that game, we earned the right to be in that game. Watching the film we knew that we were the better team, we just needed to come out and prove it.” Mankato West made their presence felt early as junior wide receiver/outside linebacker Elijah Bollman forced a fumble on a punt and was recovered by senior middle linebacker/running back Ryan Haley, who returned it for a touchdown in the opening minutes of the game. “It kind of fueled us, our defense and our special teams have been making phenomenal plays all year,” said Helget. They kept the momentum going after stopping Mahtomedi’s offense on the next drive. Senior quarterback Zander Dittbenner had a 30-yard run with the help of some good blocks to put them at the 20 yard-line. He later threw a touchdown pass to senior running back/middle linebacker,
