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Let’s Play Football
December 2, 2021
Prep Bowl Class A: Mayer Lutheran 20, Minneota 14
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There was plenty of reason to smile for Mayer Lutheran players following their hard-fought 20-14 victory over Minneota in the Class A Prep Bowl.
Mayer Lutheran brings home first state championship by MALIK MITCHELL After having a dominant season going (7-0) being taken away from them last year, Mayer Lutheran, a school of 170 kids and football team of 49 players brought home their first Class 1A Championship to Mayer, Minnesota, located 37 miles west of Minneapolis. Mayer Lutheran head coach, Dean Aurich said “The first time I saw them was about 5th or 6th grade, we have a little Knights football program and we just kept picking up a few kids from here and there. Some of them were surprises even. About the time they got to 8th grade they were already talking like, ‘when we get to high school we’re gonna win it all.’ ” Ty Hoese said, “It felt amazing to win the first Prep Bowl for our school. It means a lot to us, our coaches, and our school community as a whole. It was just an awesome day.” Four years ago they faced a devastating loss against Minneota in the semi-finals and never forgot what it was going to take
to beat them. “They absolutely beat us up, Aurich said. “I mean they beat us at every level. This was Mayer Lutheran’s first Prep Bowl appearance and they have been in seven state tournament appearances. Aurich, who has been head coach for the Knights for the past 34 years, led his team to a championship win with the help of 16 seniors. “Because I’ve been here for so long in some ways it was almost like, it’s about time the poor guy gets a victory,” Aurich said jokingly. He has a record of 240-108 at Mayer Lutheran and ranks 29th in Minnesota history in career victories and sixth among active coaches. He also has two grandkids on the team, freshmen Seth Aurich and Parker Aurich. The city of Mayer also brought home a championship after Mayer Lutheran’s volleyball team beat Minneota in the Class 1A championship as well. “The funny part is, during that game their football players said, ‘lets play football.’” Aurich said. “I actually congratulated our volleyball coach and said, wouldn’t
it be funny if we really would be able to play these guys in the state championship and sure enough it happened.” Mayer Lutheran’s beautiful ending to their season did not start out so sweet. In their season opener, they had a tough loss against Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 32-27. They managed to beat them later in the season for the Section 2A Championship 48-12. After their opening loss, they went undefeated without letting teams score over 14 points a game. “After losing the first game, we didn’t lose any confidence. We knew we were a good team and could go far,” Hoese said. “We just continued to take the season one game at a time.” The Crusaders finished the season (141) with a total of 515 points scored. On offense they had a total of 1267 passing yards, 1572 rushing yards, 1466 receiving yards, and 64 touchdowns. On defense, they had a total of 443 tackles, 18 sacks, 12 interceptions, and recovered 5 fumbles. “We were so dominant this season because of our balance on offense,” Hoese said. “That made us really hard to defend.
Our defense was also lights out and extremely physical.” Ty Hoese threw for 961 yards and 18 touchdowns. Dylan Nelson rushed for 668 yards and nine touchdowns. Teigan Martin caught 23 passes for 420 yards and six touchdowns. Tyler Neitzel had 61 total tackles, 4 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery. Some seniors that are looking to play at the collegiate level next year are Teigan Martin, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound tight end/ defensive end, who accounted for two touchdowns in the victory over New York Mills in the semifinals. He caught a touchdown pass and moments later returned a blocked punt 40 yards for another TD. He is committed to Liberty University. Elijah Jopp who is committed to Northern State University, and Abram Jopp who has offers from MSUM, Dordt University, and University of Mary are also hoping to play college football. The Knights will lose 16 seniors going into next season. Rebuilding and continuing their tradition is what’s next for Mayer Lutheran.
Key turnovers, strong defense lead Crusaders to 20-14 win
by MALIK MITCHELL The Mayer Lutheran Knights (121) secured the victory against undefeated Minneota Vikings (13-0) for the Class 1A Championship. This was their first Championship game appearance and win in program history. Mayer Lutheran Head coach, Dean Aurich said, “The big thing was just hugging all the seniors. The overwhelming feeling of success from the hard work being paid off and the challenges we overcame that made us better. The trails we went through, it was worth it all.” Minneota’s offense started out making play after play with senior quarterback Isaac Pohlen completing a play action pass to junior Anthony Rybinski to put them in good field position. They punched it the rest of the way to get their first score, ending the first quarter with a score of 7-0. To start the second quarter, Mayer Lutheran started to get things going on offense, overpowering Minneota’s defensive line. They responded with senior quarterback Ty Hoese throwing a 41-yard touchdown pass to senior Sam Dennis that left him untouched to make it 7-6. On the next drive, Mayer Lutheran’s defense recovered a fumble that was forced by junior Jack Baumann and recovered by senior Elijah Jopp. The forced turnover by the Knights’ defense led to a 13-yard touchdown run by
The Crusaders line up after their Class A title win over Minneota. Mayer Lutheran finished the season 13-1, and handed the Vikings their first loss of the 2021 campaign.
fullback Cole Neitzel as he weaved his way through Minneota’s defense. Mayer Lutheran took the lead 13-7 with seven minutes left in the second quarter. “We knew this was going to be a close game and we knew they were a good team,” Ty Hoese said. “Forcing the turnovers was huge for us. It helped to
swing the momentum in our favor.” The Knights dominant defense recovered another fumble after Minneota’s Pohlen lost control of the ball quickly after the snap and accidentally kicked it towards Mayer Lutheran’s defense for them to fall on. However, Minneota refused to lose
hope after forcing a fumble on a punt to put them in good field position. Pohlen threw a 22-yard pass to senior Jonah Gruenes who ended up being swarmed by defenders and pushed from behind by his teammates into the endzone. The Vikings would go back up 14-13 to end the first half. To start the third quarter, the Knights offense began marching downfield. Knights QB Hoese threw a dagger to senior tight end Teigan Martin who snagged it with one hand. With good field position, the Knights punched it in with Neitzel pounding it in with the push of his teammates to go up 20-14. “We snuck in a few passes when we needed to and the puzzle pieces kind of worked to get us ahead and our defense played an outstanding second half,” Aurich said. Minnesota’s offense struggled to get anything going in the third quarter. However, the Knights also struggled to score any points regardless of the big plays they were able to get. In the fourth quarter Minneota’s defense managed to get an interception late in the quarter. They couldn’t get anything going on offense, failing to convert on a 4th and 24. “We knew we had to stand tall defensively in the final minutes. And we did,” Hoese said. Mayer Lutheran managed to fight off Minneota in the last minutes of the game to win the Class A state title 20-14.
