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Saturday, November 7, 2009
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Patriots earn first state tourney trip Total offensive yards top 500 as Pequot romps Perham in section championship By JOE LINDHOLM Sports Writer GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The No. 1-seeded Pequot Lakes Patriots secured their first berth in the state tournament and captured their first section championship with a convincing 41-16 victory Friday over the No. 2-seeded Perham Yellowjackets at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D.
With the victory Pequot Lakes claims the Section 8-3A championship and will face the Mora Mustangs on Saturday in the Class 3A quarterfinals in Duluth.
The eighth-ranked Patriots scored three first half touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead to the halfway point. Logan Lange picked up two of the scores with scoring bursts of 35 and 10 yards. Cody Chambers scored on a 4-yard plunge to finish off the first half scoring.
In the second half, Chambers got back into the scoring column two more times with runs of 4 and 9 yards. Nolan Michaelson and Cole Engen also scored touchdowns for the Patriots.
Pequot Lakes 48,
Perham 16
The key: The Patriots rushed for 459 total team yards in the victory.
Overall: PL 10-1, Per 9-2
Next: Pequot Lakes vs. Mora, Class 3A state quarterfinals, 3 p.m. Nov. 14, Public School Stadium, Duluth.
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The Patriots and Yellowjackets, who had been ranked ninth in the state, had met for a thrilling Heart O' Lakes Conference game on Oct. 2 at Pequot Lakes. On that night, Patriots upset Perham 45-42, and ended the Yellowjackets unbeaten streak.
Pequot coach Chip Lohmiller expected his offense to perform at a high level on the artificial surface at the Alerus Center. His offense came through in a big way with 528 total yards of offense including 459 yards of rushing.
"We had great blocking by the line which made us able to be fast out there," said quarterback Cole Engen. "They blocked well so we could pick our spots and then go outside. It all worked well for us tonight."
Senior Matt Michaelson continued to shine with 15 carries for 127 yards while recovering from the flu. Limited minutes for Michaelson meant more minutes for other runners. Lange, a sophomore, used the opportunity to rush 10 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
"Matt has had the flu this week so we couldn't run him that much. I wasn't sure how much we would be able to use him," said Lohmiller. "Logan Lange stepped up and made an impact. We have very good depth at the running-back position."
Chambers also gained 83 yards on 14 carries, Engen had 72 yards on nine carries and Nick Greer had 62 yards on five carries.
Another huge part of the victory was the result of some exceptional defensive play, holding quarterback Ben Bucholz and his offense to just two scores. Pequot Lakes also held the Yellowjackets to under 100 yards rushing.
One of the biggest series of the game took place just before halftime. The Patriots had just taken the lead at 21-0 on a Chambers touchdown with under a minute left in the half.
Bucholz started with the ball on his own 28 and connected on a 58-yard pass to Cody Soderstrom who raced to the goal line. The Patriot's Jacob Box did not give up on the play as he was able to drag Soderstrom down inside the 10-yard line. Bucholz then threw an incomplete pass into the end zone to end the half without Perham putting any points on the board.
"That was a big momentum change and I am just glad that we held them out. Perham has so much power in the passing game. They can score in a couple of seconds, which they showed in the second half," Lohmiller said.
"We always say, don't let the ball get behind you and I was upset about that. But the defense played great tonight."
The other key part of the game was in the third quarter after the Yellowjacket's Alex Phelps scored to cut the Patriots lead to 28-8. The Patriots responded with a three-and-a-half minute, seven-play drive, finished off by a touchdown plunge by Nolan Michaelson, which put the game out of reach.
Pequot Lakes now looks to the excitement of their first trip to the state tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against Mora.
Engen is ready for the opportunity. "I'm excited for it. It is going to be a great experience. The first time Pequot Lakes has been to state. We're excited for it," Engen said.
Lohmiller knows that his team will be prepared on Saturday. "I'm looking forward to it. We just have to get back to the drawing board and practice hard this week. As long as we work hard, things will go in a good way.
Perham 0 0 8 8 - 16
Pequot Lakes 7 14 14 6 - 41
First quarter
PL - Logan Lange 35 run (Louie Farone kick) 4:12
Second quarter
PL - Lange 10 run (Farone kick) 2:38
PL - Cody Chambers 4 run (Farone kick) :26
Third quarter
PL - Chambers 4 run (Farone kick) 9:16
Phm - Alex Phelps 39 pass from Ben Bucholz (Bucholz run) 6:13
PL - Nolan Michaelson 8 run (Farone kick) 2:48
Fourth quarter
PL - Cole Engen 1 run (kick failed) 8:12
Phm - Ben Waldon 58 pass from Bucholz (Waldon from Bucholz) 6:45
PL - Chambers 9 run (Farone kick) 3:06
Team statistics
Rushes-yards: Per 22-89, PL 56-459
Pass comp-att-int-yards: Per 12-28-2-261, PL 3-5-1-69
Total offense: Per 350, PL 528
Individual statistics
Rushing: Per Chris Scheidecker 11-62, Ben Bucholz 5-7, Charlie Schmitz 1-7, Ethan Honer 2-5, Gabe Pankonin 2-6, Ty Haverland 1-2, PL Matt Michaelson 15-127, Logan Lange 10-93, Cody Chambers 14-83, Cole Engen 9-72, Nick Greer 5-62, Nolan Michaelson 3-22.
Passing: Per Bucholz 12-28-2-261, PL Engen 3-5-1-69
Receiving: Per Charlie Schmitz 2-21, Ben Waldon 3-71, Cody Soderstrom 5-119, Alex Phelps 2-50, PL Chambers 2-54, Matt Michaelson 1-15.
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