Tuesday, November 20, 2007

2007 State Football Tournament

The kick return team celebrating after Watson's 83-yard return for a TD against Royalton.



Goodhue football since 2003: five section titles, ‘03 state champions, ’05 state runner-up, and year ’04 & ’06 state entrants. 2007 has already rolled through and were already in the state championship games for the fall season. The Goodhue Wildcats are the only team returning from the 2006 field in Class A.



November 8th our team was up playing in Mounds View at their high school. This was the first year that the MSHSL decided that all the first round state games would be played at neutral site and on artificial turf. This happened mostly because of the late season and unplayable field conditions. If you all remember last year our team played New Ulm at home here after a big snow storm. The field was swept off pretty good but it felt like the field was concrete.



So the Class A state quarterfinal game was against the Royals of Royalton. They came into the contest with a 9-2 overall record. Royalton put the first six points on the board in the opening quarter but on the ensuing kickoff, Brett Watson sprinted up the middle for an 87-yard strike-up-the-band score. Eric Ryan later scored on a 6-yard to put the wildcats up 13-6 early in the second. Watson added another impressive catch and score which came from 41-yards and quarterback Kelby Buck. Chad Meyer even found the end zone in the first half by using his hands of greatness on a kick off where a Royalton player was stripped of the ball; Meyer scooped it up and took it to the house for a 25-yard scamper. Goodhue was ahead 25-14 at the break. In second half action, Micah Huneke added two short touchdown runs that put the game away. Our defense stepped up and played a lot better in the second half. We rolled with a 40-14 win over Royalton in the quarterfinals. Next stop was the dome.



November 15th we were at the Metrodome in downtown Murderapolis. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (12-0) was our match up for the Class A state semifinal game. We scored on our first six possessions in the contest. Brett Watson scored the first score on a scramble pass of 19 yards from Buck. Also in the first half were touchdowns runs of 80-yards from Watson and a nine yard run from Huneke. Buck threw 2 more touchdown passes too; one of 26-yards to Brett and another for 15-yards to Micah. We jumped out to an impressive 38-12 lead going into the locker room at half. Eric Ryan added the final blow early in the third with a 17 yard rumble into the end zone. I thought our defense played pretty good in the win but we can play better. Goodhue finished with 472 total yards of offense with KMS putting up 293. Watson finished with a combined total of 245 yards and three TD’s. Buck finished with 135 yards through the air and three TD’s. Next of the 2007 Prep Bowl. I asked player Brett Watson how they beat a good team like this so easily and he replyed with; "We just played an outstanding game, our offense could not be stopped and we put the ball in the end zone when we needed to."


This Friday at 1 p.m. we will be playing for a 2007 Class A state championship. We will be taking on the Adrian Dragons. They beat Cook County Central 21-0 in the semifinals. Adrian has an overall record of 11-2. Should be a great game and I hope everyone can come and watch.








Brett Watson breaking away for his 80-yard TD run Thursday.


By: Sean Thomforde

No comments: