Elk River rushes for 701 yards against Apple Valley for football semifinal win

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,579
Reaction score
15,659
Points
113
per the Pioneer Press:

Apple Valley tallied 509 yards of total offense, scored 40 points and didn’t punt once in Friday’s Class 5A semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium. And yet, the Eagles lost by 11.

How? Put simply, the Eagles had no answer for the Elk River running game. The Elks rushed for 700 yards on their way to a 51-40 victory.

Elk River averaged 11.7 yards a carry and had four players rush for more than 90 yards, led by Adam Nelson’s 302 yards and three touchdowns. The Elks, who employ a now-vaunted straight-T rushing attack, did not attempt a pass.

Elk River coach Steve Hamilton said the Elks haven’t lost on an artificial turf field since 2013, a good omen for next Saturday’s Prep Bowl matchup.

“Obviously, it’s pretty good or we wouldn’t do it,” Hamilton said with a smile about his offense. “I’ve done it for 15 years, and I’ve seen everything you can see. These guys have done nothing else for the last seven years. We just have a mentality that we’re going to get off the ball. We’re going to play physical, and that was our game plan coming in. (The Eagles) were big, but we thought we could get after them a little bit up front.”

http://www.twincities.com/2017/11/1...701-yards-in-semifinal-win-over-apple-valley/

Go Gophers!!
 

Wow, not a lot of defense being played in that one. :)
 

Not one attempted pass..... even in victory, the Gopherhole meltdown would be epic.
 

Not one attempted pass..... even in victory, the Gopherhole meltdown would be epic.

I don't know...even here I think most would be very happy with 700+ rushing yards but I am sure you could find someone that would complain about it.
 

Their quarterfinal game was 66-60 over Andover. They play Owatonna for the title and Owatonna ran the wing T just a few years ago.

As to the defense, 7 of the 14 semi-finals had over 60 total points scored. It wasn't just the indoor venue.

Outside in the quarterfinals another 7 games were over 60 total points scored.
 


First team to 70 wins Elk River/Owatonna matchup. Owatonna has best skill players in state, but their defense is suspect.
 

First team to 70 wins Elk River/Owatonna matchup. Owatonna has best skill players in state, but their defense is suspect.

Both teams will be by that in the 3rd quarter.
Whoever punts first loses, although I don't think either of them will.
This one will be decided by the XP success.
 

First team to 70 wins Elk River/Owatonna matchup. Owatonna has best skill players in state, but their defense is suspect.

Somehow I get the feeling that suspect defense won't really matter in this one. Sounds like it will probably come down to last team with the ball wins.
 

Elk river and valley would both be middle of the pick in the 6A class. They would beat up on the bottom half. They should probably be in the class as their rival schools (at least valley).


6A was created for Rochester’s and brainerds to have a chance. I guess it worked for owatonna, but the fact that it is elk river vs Apple valley tells me that there shouldn’t be a 5A.
 



Schools like Elk River, Apple Valley, Coon Rapids, etc. ... schools that technically get lumped into the 6A class by student population, but shouldn't be on the same field with those programs ... have benefited greatly.
 

I think it's more good offense than no defense. Apple Valley coach talked about how when you defend it one way, they change their blocking and exploit you. I think it's more about coaching, more about strategy and execution than poor defense. How does Navy score points? How did Baylor with Briles score points? How does Scott Frost score points? How did Chip at Oregon score points? How is Lane Kiffin at FAU scoring points? It ain't just bad defense. Some guys are able to coach offense. They have a scheme you can't defend. You take that away, we do this. The Elk River guy is obviously one of them.
And when some equal meets their match on the defensive side, it's fun to watch the chess match. Tracy vs the pirate comes to mind.
 

It's no different than when the veer option was ripping defenses apart, decades ago. Eventually, a smart defensive mind invents a way to stop it, and the fad goes away.

The Wing-T was a fad in high school football some years ago. It's nice for high schools to run, because it's relatively simply, yet can produce results when defenses don't prepare correctly for it. It's a mindset, just like running the option is.
 

Wing T is the ultimate Culture style for HS. It's fun to watch.
 



I think it's more good offense than no defense. Apple Valley coach talked about how when you defend it one way, they change their blocking and exploit you. I think it's more about coaching, more about strategy and execution than poor defense. How does Navy score points? How did Baylor with Briles score points? How does Scott Frost score points? How did Chip at Oregon score points? How is Lane Kiffin at FAU scoring points? It ain't just bad defense. Some guys are able to coach offense. They have a scheme you can't defend. You take that away, we do this. The Elk River guy is obviously one of them.
And when some equal meets their match on the defensive side, it's fun to watch the chess match. Tracy vs the pirate comes to mind.

There is definitely something to that especially in high school when you might not see another team that runs a similar offense and you only have limited practice time and resources to prepare for it. Plus if the other coaches are good at scouting defenses, which based on averaging 51 points a game, they probably are, then they find the weakness in the defense and exploit it. In high school it is really unlikely that you will have good players on the bench for most teams so if the offense knows how to attack you it is really hard to adjust for it.
 

The option is still a tough thing to prepare to play even, even for college coaches. Their players don't see it much or at all. ACC teams have a tough time with Georgia Tech eve with better talent. But don't get behind.
 

I don't know...even here I think most would be very happy with 700+ rushing yards but I am sure you could find someone that would complain about it.

Did any of the players look like they were quitting late 4th quarter?
 

My hometown is in Elk River's conference and i always try to attend their games when we play 'em....
and trying to follow the ball in their wish-bone offense is an impossible task...

Once you think you have bottled up the ball carrier, there goes the real ball carrier...20 yards down the field.
 


St Cloud Tech held them to 14 points. Gopher commit Brevyn Spann-Ford played linebacker and caught a TD late in the fourth. Coaches opted to kick the PAT and go for the tie and they lost 14-13.

I was hoping he’d to get play at state so more Gopher fans could see him. Impressive athlete to say the least.
 

St Cloud Tech held them to 14 points. Gopher commit Brevyn Spann-Ford played linebacker and caught a TD late in the fourth. Coaches opted to kick the PAT and go for the tie and they lost 14-13.

I was hoping he’d to get play at state so more Gopher fans could see him. Impressive athlete to say the least.

Right ... if you figure out how to confound the Wing-T rushing schemes, then suddenly they have no answer. Teams like that, just like teams that still run the option, are completely invested in that one type of scheme working.
 




Top Bottom