The Maple Lake Irish went into week three with high hopes, only to be supplanted by the Holdingford Huskers 34-21. This gave the Irish their first defeat of the season and Holdingford remained undefeated at 3-0.
The Irish started the first quarter strong, moving the ball steadily down the field getting inside the Husker 15-yard line, only to have a pass picked off and returned 48 yards to the Irish 46 yard line. Four plays later, the Huskers scored on a 36-yard pass and extra-point kick to go up 7-0.
The Irish were stalled on their next two drives, but the defense also shut down the Huskers to keep things close. Sam Nordlie intercepted his fourth pass in three games to help the Irish cause. Finally, on Maple Lake’s third possession of the second quarter, the Irish hit pay dirt as Doug Mavencamp connected with Jared Holt on a 44-yard TD pass, the extra-point kick by Craig Couette was good and the game was tied 7-7.
The Irish defense held once again and put the offense in good field position with less than 2:30 to go before half-time. The Irish ran off three first downs and with 17 seconds left in the half, Mavencamp scored on a plunge to put the Irish ahead 13-7. The extra-point try was missed and the local gridders were leading 13-7.
The second half started with Holdingford getting the ball and they put together a lengthy 16-play drive to score and tie the game at 13. D.J. Manthie blocked the extra-point kick and the game remained tied until into the fourth quarter.
The Irish turned the ball over twice in the final quarter and Holdingford capitalized on the miscues and turned them into two TDs. The Huskers, with their superior size, finally wore down the Irish, running off 20 plays and stopping the Maple Lake’s win streak at two. The Irish pulled within 13, but could not convert on an on-side kick to keep hopes alive for this game.
“This was a hard-fought battle and everyone left all they had on the field,” commented Coach Knudsen. He also added, “When you play a team of Holdingford’s caliber, you have to be at the top of your game and we evidently were not tonight. Turnovers and missed assignments really hurt us. These are, however, correctable errors that we will work on this week. We have to be on top of our game again this week going into Pierz.”
Offensive leaders for the Irish were: Rushing – Pawelk, 20 for 110 yards; Klein, 10 for 45 yards, 1 TD; Mavencamp, 8 for 34 yards, 1 TD. Passing – Mavencamp, 8 for 22 for 173 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception. Receiving – Decker, 2 for 39 yards; Holt, 3 for 81 yards, 1 TD; Klein, 2 for 18 yards; Wurm 1 for 15 yards.
Defensive leaders were: Craig Couette, 12 tackles, 1 sack; D.J. Manthie, 9 tackles and 1 blocked kick; Paul Latour, 6 tackles; Jason Klein, 6 tackles; Cody Decker 5 tackles, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery; Elliot Risbrudt, 6 tackles; Eric Wurm, 5 tackles; Chase Swenson, 3 tackles, 2 sacks; and Sam Nordlie, 4 tackles and 1 interception.
Maple Lake will travel to Pierz this Friday for a 7 p.m. start against the Pioneers.
In other football scores this past week: Maple Lake JV 24, B-B-E 6; Maple Lake 9th 36, STMA 0; Maple Lake 8th 14, EV-W 8; Maple Lake 7th 0, EV-W 6.
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