Football: Minneota manages miscues to beat D-B

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Oct. 31—MARSHALL — The makings of an upset were there for the Dawson-Boyd football team.

Minneota, the three-time defending state champion and winner of 42 straight going into Friday's Section 4A championship, had two first-half turnovers. That gave the Blackjacks prime field position on the Vikings' side of the field.

But, you don't win that many games in a row without managing a little adversity.

Dawson-Boyd wasn't able to capitalize on those opportunities. And the Vikings were able to settle down and clinch a state berth for the fifth straight season.

Top-seeded Minneota won the 4A championship with a 42-16 victory over No. 2 D-B at Mattke Field at Southwest Minnesota State University.

"They're a really good football team and we needed to capitalize on those (mistakes)," said Blackjacks head coach Cory Larson. D-B closes out the season at 8-3. "They kind of make you one dimensional. It's so hard to have consistent success against them in any phase of your offense."

The Vikings are 10-0 and await the Class A state quarterfinals next week. Seeds will be announced this weekend. "Defensively, we did a nice job of holding up and controlling the line of scrimmage," said Minneota head coach Chad Johnston. "That's what we knew we needed to do."

Minneota got the ball to the Blackjacks' 37-yard line on the opening drive. That came to an abrupt halt with an interception by D-B's Mason Bothun. He brought the ball to the Vikings' 25-yard line.

Thanks to Minneota's defense, the ball moved backwards. They brought Blackjacks' quarterback Gunner Liebl down for a 15-yard loss on the drive. D-B had to punt from the 42-yard line. Minneota responded with a 10-play, 93-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from halfback Kellen Bradley.

D-B had two more chances.

Mason Bothun blocked a Vikings punt to give the Blackjacks possession at Minneota's 34-yard line. The Vikings' defense stepped up again, giving up just one yard and forcing a turnover on downs.

"They're strong kids, man," D-B junior tight end/defensive end Colten Bothun said of Minneota's defense.

A fumble by Bradley was recovered by Evan Mork. He brought it to the 30-yard line. D-B was able to get some points on the board with a 32-yard field goal by Elvis Bellefeuille.

Minneota flashed its big-play capability before halftime when quarterback Tristen Sussner hit Brock Fier for a 75-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings led 14-3 at halftime.

Dawson-Boyd punter Aedyn Dahl completed a fake punt pass to Colten Bothun to extend the opening drive of the second half. Liebl finished it off with a scramble that turned into a 33-yard TD pass to Eli Olson.

While Minneota followed up with a 23-yard TD reception by Easton Johnston, D-B's special teams came through again. Colten took the ensuing kickoff and ran 90 yards for a score. D-B trailed 21-16 with 9:05 left in the third quarter.

"I saw a hole and just ran straight through it hoping they'd block for me and they did," Colten said. He finished with the punt block, the kickoff TD and five catches for 51 yards. "(The kick return) was a team effort."

Minneota's defense was done giving up yards. Liebl ran for negative-28 yards on 11 carries. A botched snap on a punt attempt in the third quarter took off another 23 yards and gave the Vikings the ball at the Blackjacks' four-yard line.

"They had a couple things go their way early and then they had a couple things not go their way," Johnston said. "The key thing is we were able to capitalize when we needed to."

D-B finished with negative-46 rushing yards. Forced to throw, Liebl completed 10 of 27 passes for 107 yards and two second-half interceptions.

"They really took our run game away from us, so that takes away your play action," Larson said. "They're just so disciplined (on defense). … You have to try to hit on some bigger plays and we did. The problem is we gave up some big plays, too."

Bradley took on the workhorse role for the Vikings' offense. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. And he helped carry mighty Minneota to yet another state tournament.

"That was exhausting," Bradley said. "I'm gonna go take an ice bath.

"My coaches trusted me, even after I fumbled. They still came back and gave me the ball."

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