'It hurts': Mahnomen stymies Bethlehem Academy in Prep Bowl

By BRENDAN BURNETT-KURIE

bburnett-kurie@faribault.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- A tear is a special thing to a man. It can represent joy, or regret, or triumph.

It can also mean sorrow. Sometimes that sorrow stands at the intersection of accomplishment and letdown. That is what the Bethlehem Cardinals football team experienced as it walked off the field at the Metrodome on Saturday, holding their second-place Class A football trophy like it was contagious.

The Cardinals had already made history -- both for their school and their city -- but for a few brief moments as they let the weight of defeat send tears rolling through their eye black, perspective stepped aside.

"Right now, it doesn't feel very good," said senior Blake Langerud moments after the Cardinals lost 20-14 to Mahnomen in the Class A Prep Bowl. "We were that close. I think after a while it will settle in that we had a good season and we worked hard for it."

The Cardinals (11-3) just couldn't get Mahnomen off the field on third down, nor make inroads into the Indians' backfield, and the offense never got a chance to make a difference as Mahnomen never trailed and ran 64 plays to BA's 37. Moments after the game, coach Scott Hanson stood in the middle of his team -- 17 of whom had just played their final high school game -- with one succinct message.

"You have a lot to be proud of," he told is players. "You accomplished a lot this year. You fought all the way to the last second and that's all you can do ... I'm proud of you guys. I love every single one of you."

That sentiment was shared by his players. Senior lineman Dylan Valentyn had to carry the trophy off the field and into the locker room.

"I'm proud of our whole team making it this far and making a state championship," he said, then paused tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "I'm proud of every single one of them."

But pride just couldn't force the Indians off the field on third down. Mahnomen (14-0) went 10-for-15 on third downs, including five-for-six on its first two scoring drives, which totaled 29 plays and more than 14 minutes of the first half.

"You take a couple of third-down stops in the first half and we possibly could have won this football game," Hanson said. "We missed some opportunities, but hats off to my players."

Twice the Cardinals got within a touchdown, but neither time could they follow up a score with a quick stop. Kyle Filzen's 1-yard touchdown run with 4:47 left in the third quarter made it 14-7, and Tim Angell's 15-yard touchdown pass from Filzen with 39 seconds left gave the Cardinals one last chance with an on side kick. Joe Matejcek put the ball in good position, but the Indians pounced on it and kneeled out the clock.

"It hurts," Valentyn said. "We wanted to come here and win it all, but Mahnomen is a good team and we just didn't execute well enough today."

The Indians opened the game with a 10-play, 74-yard drive that took more than five minutes and was capped by Jacob Pavek's 18-yard touchdown run on the Indians' patented veer option play. Pavek finished with 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

"That kids is phenomenal with his reads through the line of scrimmage," Hanson said. "He's hard to tackle."

The Cardinals got just one first down on their first possession, but Christian VonRuden's corner coffin punt to the 4-yard line left the Indians facing 96 of field. It didn't even phase them. Mahnomen took 19 plays and 8:44 off the clock leading to a 1-yard Pavek touchdown, converting on a 3rd-and-13 and a 4th-and-2 along the way.

"We couldn't stop them," senior Joe Zweber said. "They were getting first downs and we couldn't hold them on third down when we needed to."

Suddenly, there was less than eight minutes left in the first half and the Cardinals were getting the ball for the second time. After six plays and 16 yards, BA punted back. A VonRuden interception with 24 seconds left in the half kept the score at 14-0 headed into the break.

A second-half adjustment to get Filzen in space led to a 16-play, 71-yard drive that ended dramatically when Filzen snuck the ball over the goal line on a 4th and goal play from the 1-yard line.

"It's always nice to get that first touchdown," Langerud siad. "We wish we had gotten it in the first half. We knew we could score on them and we got our confidence and swagger back."

But swagger did not beget a quick stop. Mahnomen's ensuing drove bled 9:29 off the clock -- the Prep Bowl record for a drive is 9:36, set by Stillwater in 1984 -- but Angell stepped in front of a crossing route for an interception on the goal line, giving the Cards the ball -- just their fourth possession if you don't count two plays in the final 24 seconds of the first half -- down one touchdown with 7:14 left in the game. 

This time the Indians defense stood strong, forcing a three-and-out followed by a 48-yard punt from VonRuden. Desperately needing a stop, this time it was fourth down that haunted BA. Facing 4th-and-5 on the 23-yard line with 2:06 to play, the Indians went to the air for just the fifth time all day -- the game featured 90 rushing plays and 12 pass attempts -- and surprised the BA defense with a touchdown pass to tight end Nathan Hanson (see sidebar). A failed two-point conversion gave the Cardinals the ball back with just under two minutes left down 20-7.

"They know what they're doing," Langerud said. "That's how they got here. They're pretty sneaky with the ball and they tricked us a little bit."

Pushed to the brink, the Cardinals proved their resiliency. Filzen found Angell for a 15-yard leaping touchdown catch with 39 seconds left to pump life back into the Cardinal sideline.

"It felt good to catch one," Angell said. "If we would have gotten that on side, that would have been huge."

But it wasn't in the cards. Two plays later, Mahnomen was celebrating its seventh football championship as BA looked on in envy.

Mahnomen finished with nearly twice as many offensive yards as the Cardinals, most notably a 214-32 edge in the first half. The Indians scored on three of their five drives, not counting two kneels at the end. In addition to Pavek's 151 rushing yards, Garret Hoffner ran 21 times for 70 yards and Trevor Haugo ran 13 times for 51 yards.

"Give their offensive line credit," Hanson said. "They were more physical and aggressive up front than we were today and leverage was key. They stood us up a lot."

Filzen led the Cardinals with 83 rushing yards on 15 carries, while Langerud added 48 yards on 11 rushes. BA's offense averaged just 0.2 less yards per carry, but running 32 less plays added up.

"We can't do anything on offense when we only run 10 plays in the first half," Valentyn said. "It's not what we're used to."

Those 17 seniors who carried Cardinal football to unprecedented heights knew their high school football career would come to an end on Saturday. They knew it would end with a trophy. And it would likely end with tears. After two hours and seven minutes of football, all that was left was finding out what those tears represented. For Hanson, that didn't matter.

"After a few days these guys will reflect back on this season and be really proud of what they did," he said. "They didn't quit. They battled all the way to the end and I don't care if it's in football or it's life, that's what it's all about. We're just extremely proud of them."