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Centennial next up for Warriors
Sports Editor COLLEGEVILLE - Class 5A's sixth-ranked Centennial Cougars of Circle Pines will be the Brainerd Warriors' foe in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament Friday night at St. Cloud State University.
Centennial (10-1) stunned third-ranked Blaine 19-14 for the Section 7-5A title Friday. The Cougars defeated Blaine, last year's 5A runner-up, 34-25 in the regular season.
Brainerd seniors Tate Rusk and Kyle Crocker were sophomores when the Warriors stunned Wayzata and lost to Cretin-Derham Hall at state two years ago.
"This was our goal from day one, to get to the state tournament," Rusk said. "The guys pulled together at the end of the season. We're excited to go."
"It's our senior year, this is what we wanted to do," Crocker said. "This is our team."
Junior running back Jordan Hayes will make his first trip to state.
"We're happy to be there," he said. "I feel like we deserve to go. We've put a lot of hard work into this."
Line in the sand
The Warriors had 365 yards in total offense.
Hayes enjoyed the first 100-yard game of his varsity career, gaining 123 yards and scoring a 6-yard touchdown.
"The offensive line, I've got to give them a lot of credit," Hayes said. "They opened it up. I had huge holes to run through all day long."
Crocker added 87 yards rushing and Carsten Nelson 70.
"We came off the ball hard," Crocker said. "They were a little undersized, and we just exploited that."
Brainerd's offensive line starts seniors Mitch Weideman, Kurt Fahlen and tight end Cole Stegora; juniors Joe Haeg and Charles Kassulker and sophomore Jake Kassulker.
"That young line we've talked about is really coming," Warriors head coach Ron Stolski said. "The holes weren't gaping but they were plenty big enough for us to get through."
Defense dominates
The Warriors allowed just 113 yards through three quarters. They contained Buffalo running back Josh Gaughan, who entered with 1,095 yards and 16 TDs. He finished with 62 yards and a 5-yard TD run.
Brainerd also stifled the pass, allowing 39 passing yards.
"The kids prepared well this week, they studied," Brainerd defensive coordinator Bob Brakke said. "We played more vanilla defense in this game than we've ever played in any game. We literally blitzed maybe once because the kids were so in tune to their reads.
"The kids were very good at predicting what Buffalo was going to run next. We knew when the halfback was going to get the ball, when the fullback was going to get the ball. All in all, it was just an outstanding performance by the boys."
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike. bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.
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