Each summer, high school football teams begin their season in the heat of June, hoping they will be playing in the chill of November in football playoffs. Friday night, November 1st, the Chanhassen Storm (6-3) faced off against Mankato East Cougars (7-2) for the Section 2 Class 5A championship and a trip to state on the line with the temperature at 42 degrees at kick-off.
East took the opening kick-off and both teams moved the ball well with their balanced pass/rush offenses. Field position was key in the first quarter, with Chanhassen being held behind mid-field most of the quarter.
East pushed deep into Chanhassen territory midway into the second quarter and was stopped on a fourth down from the one-yard line. Chanhassen was forced to punt after not moving the ball after taking over after that stop. This gave East good field position. On a fourth down and three to go, East quarterback Ganden Gosch connected with Brogan Madison on an 18-yard pass, capping off a 36-yard, seven-play drive (extra point good) to put East up 7-0 with 2:56 left in the first half.
Chanhassen took the subsequent kick-off and using a balance of rushes and passes, marched the ball 80 yards in nine plays for a touchdown, capped off by a 20-yard pass from Nathan Ramler to Ty Jensen (Griffin Miller’s extra point was good) to tie the score at 7-7 with 31 seconds left in the first half.
The Storm took the opening second-half kickoff, moving down the field for an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive. The touchdown once again came off of a 39-yard pass from Nathan Ramler to Ty Jensen with 8:45 left in the third quarter. Miller’s extra point was good to make the score 14-7.
The remainder of the third quarter and early portion of the fourth quarter once again saw both offenses pass and rush to the ball to gain field position and exchange punts. This trade-off and balance remained until late in the quarter. East mounted an 11-play, 55-yard drive down to Chanhassen’s 11-yard line. With 48 seconds left, Ganden Gosch connected with Hayden Tischler on a 12-yard pass, and with Tischler’s extra point, tied the game at 14-14.
Chanhassen received the kickoff at their 30-yard line. In four plays, the Storm moved the ball to East’s 35-yard line. With six seconds left in the game, Nathan Ramler connected with James Kopfmann at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Kade Bush ran it in for the go-ahead touchdown. Griffin Miller’s extra point was good, making the final 21-14. Chanhassen is the Section Two champion two years in a row.
At the post-game meet-up with the team, Coach Cullen Nelson praised the team’s resilience and complemented their late first and second half drives.
“Defense, you stood them on their heads and made them earn every yard. What a battle. It was a wonderful win,” he said.
Chanhassen’s next game will be on Saturday, Nov. 9, against an opponent to be determined either at Osseo or Eastview.
