Mistakes Crush St. Michael-Albertville in Loss to Maple Grove

St. Michael-Albertville's offense was looking impressive in its first possession of its first-ever Class 5A playoff game, piling up yardage and moving deep into Maple Grove territory as time ran off the clock in the first quarter. 

The Knights, a favorite as the No. 3 seed, were smaller than the squad from "big-school" Maple Grove, but were getting a good push up front. 

Then, on a third down play at the Crimson 25-yard line, the game completely changed. 

Junior Ryan Lyzhoft was hit and fumbled on a nifty defensive play by a Crimson linebacker, and senior linebacker Dylan Steman of Maple Grove scooped up the ball and ran 75 yards, untouched, for the game's first score. 

Looking to recover, the Knights fizzled on their next offensive possesion and punted after four plays. Two offensive plays later, No. 24 Roman Collins of the Crimson, his first game at tailback all season, turned a broken play into a 57-yard touchdown run. Collins rolled right with his blockers, ran into a host of Knight defenders, and cut back left. He found only daylight between him and the left sideline, and took off. 

The Crimson had built a 13-0 lead, and never looked back, rolling to a 36-0 rout of the Knights on their home field. 

"It's hard to say the night turns on one play here or this play there when you're beaten 36-0," said Jared Essler, the Knights' first-year head coach. "Really, their big plays went for touchdowns, and when we got a big play they recovered and stopped it for 10 or 15 yards." 

Maple Grove's defense used a bend-but-don't-break philosophy to keep the Crimson in control, and the Knights kept committing big mistakes. 

Looking to answer the call down 13-0, St. Michael-Albertville marched down the field, thanks to a nifty shovel pass from Cole Krutzig to Lyzhoft that went for 20 yards, and another key run by Krutzig that converted a third down. But on third down inside the Crismon 10, Krutzig tried to get a pass into wide receiver Michael Weise. Collins, who had a night of big plays, made another one by stepping in front of the pass, taking a risk, and getting the interception at the Crimson 1-yard line. 

"We left a lot of plays on the field tonight. But in that first quarter, we just couldn't get any momentum," Essler said. 

The two teams would play a bit of field possession, then the Crimson moved ahead with a 33-yard field goal. The would use a methodical drive late in the second quarter to make it 22-0 at the half. 

St. Michael-Albertville did just fine on offense. Four times in the first half, they were inside the Crimson's 30 yard line. Three times they turned it over (two interceptions, one fumble) and once they turned it over on downs. 

Any hopes of a comeback in the second half were dashed out of the gate, when Maple Grove made it 29-0 on a 24-yard run by Collins, his second touchdown of the night. He would get a fourth on the game's final score, picking up a blocked punt in the fourth quarter and running 25 yards to make it 36-0. 

There were plenty of ties between the two programs. Coach Darby Carlson, the Knights' defensive coordinator, teaches at Maple Grove High. And Essler got his coaching start in Maple Grove, where he taught geography. 

"You look at their athletes, and there's a huge difference. You talk yourself into thinking there's not, but they can make plays all over the field. They're a solid team," he said.

Maple Grove went 3-5 on the regular season but had three losses to teams ranked in the top 10 in 5A, including Eden Prarie. They'll take on Osseo, a rival, in the semifinal. 

Essler reflected on his senior group, which finished third in the Mississippi 8. 

"I wasn't here, but they told me this group was 2-6 as freshmen. So they've made a huge turnaround. They've laid a good foundation for what we want to do as a program going forward," Essler said. "This is a transition year for everyone in Minnesota high school football. These guys won't see it for a while, but they've started to lead us where we want to go."