By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

GRAND MEADOW -- Fireworks on Friday night celebrated the end to a decade's worth of frustration for the Grand Meadow Superlarks in the Nine-Man, Section One title game.

This was the sixth trip to the section championship game in the decade for the Superlarks, and this time they hoisted the trophy. Grand Meadow took control late in the first half and beat Houston 35-7 to win the section title.

The Houston Hurricanes were the defending state champs and the two-time defending section champs. It was a close 14-7 score at halftime, then the Superlarks dominated in the second half.

Michael Gehling led the way with three rushing touchdowns and a touchdown reception. Caleb Leichtnam scored the final touchdown as Grand Meadow won its first section title since 1997.

"It's been a long time between section championships and this is a great group of kids to get it done," Grand Meadow coach Gary Sloan said. "We have good speed on the outside and our guys made some big plays. That was a big drive near the end of the first half to score the go-ahead touchdown."

The two teams traded touchdowns early in the first half. Tye Carrier caught a touchdown pass from Dustin Uhlendorf and Houston held a one-point lead midway through the second quarter.

The Superlarks came back with a drive, but it died on downs at the Hurricanes 13-yard line. With under four minutes to play in the half, the Grand Meadow defense made a stand. They held and forced a punt into the wind. The result of the exchange was only 33 yards to paydirt for the Superlarks.

It took just a couple of plays for the tide of momentum to turn. Gehling came open on a crossing route and caught a strike in stride from Leichtnam. Then, he turned it upfield and headed for the end zone on a 28-yard touchdown reception. Leichtnam ran in the two-point conversion and the Superlarks were ahead to stay.

"We went to the no-huddle in the second quarter and caught them off guard," Leichtnam said. "Gehling was open on the crossing pattern and I just laid the pass out there for him. The line gave me time to throw and he was wide open for the touchdown."

Events on the field had turned against the defending state champs and they couldn't get their offense going in the second half. Initially, neither team could move the ball in the third quarter. The Hurricanes then moved past midfield on a couple of pass plays, but they lost a fumble.

Sensing a chance to put the game away, the Superlarks took over in Hurricanes territory. They ran the ball right down the field in six plays. Gehling capped it off with a 13-yard touchdown run and Leichtnam added the conversion. The reign of the champs was about over.

"When we executed, the offense was there and we stayed in the game, but unfortunately we missed a few plays along the way," first-year Houston coach Ryan Gatzlaff said. "Giving up a late touchdown near the end of the first half hurt us psychologically. Grand Meadow just played tough defense and we couldn't make the plays in the second half. Still, it was awesome for the guys to get back this far in the playoffs for the third straight year."

Nothing went right for the Hurricanes in the second half. They had a chance to keep a drive going at the start of the fourth quarter with a fourth-and-1 situation. Instead, they committed a motion penalty and had to punt. The Superlarks scored again on the next drive.

Gehling finished his personal destruction of the Houston defense with a nifty burst around the end for a 31-yard touchdown run. He finished with a game-high 114 yards rushing on 23 carries. It was almost time to shoot off the fireworks.

Leichtnam capped his big night with a short touchdown in the final minutes. He also had over 100 yards rushing as the Superlarks advanced to the state tournament.

Grand Meadow (10-1) plays Section Two champion Nicollet in the state quarterfinals next Saturday at noon at the Rochester Regional Sports Stadium.

GRAND MEADOW 35, HOUSTON 7

SCORING SUMMARY

Houston 0 7 0 0 -- 7

Grand Meadow 6 8 8 13 -- 35

FIRST QUARTER

GM -- Michael Gehling 15 run (run failed), 1:27.

Drive: 15 plays, 89 yards. Key play: Caleb Leichtnam 14 run.

SECOND QUARTER

HOU -- Tye Carrier 12 pass from Dustin Uhlendorf (Nick Henderson kick), 8:30.

Drive: 6 plays, 30 yards. Key play: Sonny Eisenhuth 12 run.

GM -- Gehling 28 pass from Caleb Leichtnam (Leichtnam run), 1:13.

Drive: 3 plays, 33 yards. Key play: After an illegal shft penalty, Leichtnam 10 run.

THIRD QUARTER

GM -- Gehling 13 run (Leichtnam run), :35.

Drive: 6 plays, 57 yards. Key play: Leichtnam 20 run.

FOURTH QUARTER

GM -- Gehling 31 run (run failed), 7:23.

Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards. Key play: Gehling 15 pass from Leichtnam.

GM -- Leichtnam 1 run (Scott Wilson kick), 3:14.

Drive: 7 plays, 24 yards. Key play: A defensive pass interference penalty on fourth down extended the final drive.

TEAM STATISTICS

HoustGM

First downs 12 18

Total scrimmage yards 173 320

Total yards rushing 62 260

Total yards passing 111 60

Passes attempted 23 5

Passes completed 11 4

Passes had intercepted 2 0

Number of punts 5 5

Average punt distance 38 31

Fumbles/fumbles lost 2/1 0/0

Number of penalties 7 6

Yards penalized 40 38

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Houston -- Sonny Eisenhuth 11-33, Chris Stackhouse 5-19, Tye Carrier 7-11, Dustin Uhlendorf 2-3, Troy Sires 2-(-4). Grand Meadow -- Michael Gehling 23-114, Caleb Leichtnam 24-108, Killian Smith 12-38.

Passing

Houston -- Dustin Uhlendorf 4-for-8, 33 yards, TD; Troy Sires 7-for-15, 78 yards, 2 int. Grand Meadow -- Caleb Leichtnam 4-for-5, 60 yards, TD.

Receiving

Houston -- Tye Carrier 5-56, Troy Fitting 2-22, Chris Stackhouse 2-15, Ben Vix 1-13, Tanner Plantz 1-5. Grand Meadow -- Michael Gehling 4-60.

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MarlonH
San Francisco, CA

Posted on 11/13/2009 at 3:59:47 AM

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