MCW went 71 yards in five plays the first time it had the ball. A mistake in coverage resulted in a 29 yard scoring pass from Jake Faber to Cordell Weber. Anders Fuller kicked the conversion as the Mavericks grabbed an early 7-0 lead.
NRHEG answered in the second quarter by marching 72 yards in nine plays. Dillon Parpart rambled the final 16 yards to pay dirt. The extra point failed, leaving the Panthers down 7-6.
But, the rest of the quarter was dominated by MCW as the Mavs pushed across three scores before the intermission.
After NRHEG muffed a punt, the Mavericks went on a 74-yard drive capped by Thor Larson’s four-yard run. Fuller booted the conversion for a 14-6 advantage.
Then a Trevor Tracy pass was batted into the air and Derek Reese caught it and headed on a 47-yard scoring run. That made it 20-6.
MCW had time to go on a nine-play, 71-yard drive before halftime. Larson powered over from the one-yard line, and the Mavs left the field with a 26-6 lead.
“MCW has a good football team,” said Stork. “Our kids played hard, but the mistakes killed us.”
NRHEG narrowed the deficit to 26-14 with the only score of the third quarter. The Panthers went 53-yards in just three plays.
Preston Peterson hauled in a 33-yard TD pass from Spencer Tollefson.
Tracy found Nick Bartness for the two-point conversion, narrowing the margin to 12 points.
But, MCW put the game away with two fourth-quarter scores.
Larson scored his third touchdown of the game on a one-yard blast and Fuller kicked the extra point.
Tanner Lange capped the scoring with a two-yard run late in the game. Fuller again nailed the extra point.
MCW held a 15-14 advantage in first downs and a 334 to 264 total yards margin. The Mavericks ran 58 plays, four more than NRHEG.
Faber and Larson sparked MCW’s ground game. Faber ran for 120 yards on 18 attempts, while Larson gained 95 yards on 17 carries.
Parpart concluded his outstanding season with 156 yards on 29 rushes.
Faber connected on 8-17 passes for 115 yards and one score.
Weber was his top receiver, catching three passes for 43 yards and one score.
Tracy, who was intercepted three times, completed just 4-12 passes for 15 yards.
Tollefson hit 2-2 for 65 yards and a score.
Peterson had four receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Parpart also led the Panther defense, making seven solo stops and 13 total tackles.
Zeke Erickson came up with nine hits, Bartness was in on eight hits, Tollefson made seven tackles, Cordell Pederson had six hits and Nathan Krause, Trey Hoppe and Matt Jensen were all in on four tackles. Peterson had the lone NRHEG interception.
MCW was defeated by top-seeded Jackson 51-12 in Saturday’s semifinal.
The Panthers graduate just six seniors from this year’s team. NRHEG will be without Peterson, Parpart, Tyler Logan, Noah Krell, Nic Goette and Ross Chester in 2014.
Section 3AA (QF)
MCW 40, NRHEG 14
NRHEG 0 6 8 0 14
MCW 7 19 0 14 40
Scoring
1st Quarter: (MCW)-Weber 29 yd. pass from Faber (EP-Fuller kick).
2nd Quarter: (NR)-Parpart 16 yd. run (EP-no).
(MCW)-Larson 4 yd. run (EP-Fuller kick).
(MCW)-Reese 47 yd. interception return (EP-no).
(MCW)-Larson 1 yd. run (EP-no).
3rd Quarter: (NR)-Peterson 33 yd. pass from Tollefson (EP-Bartness pass from Tracy).
4th Quarter: (MCW)-Larson 1 yd. run (EP-Fuller kick).
(MCW)-Lange 2 yd. run (EP-Fuller kick).
Team Statistics
NRHEG MCW
1st Downs 14 15
Yds. rush 184 219
Yds. pass 80 115
Passes 6-14 (3) 8-18 (1)
Total yds. 54/264 58/334
Turnovers 5 1
Penalties 4/50 5/45
Individual Stats
NRHEG Rushing: Parpart 29/156 (1 TD), Bartness 1/13, Tollefson 3/6, Tracy 6/5, Logan1/4.
NRHEG Passing: Tracy 4-12 (0 TDs, 3 intcp.), 15 yds. Tollefson 2-2 (1 TD, 0 intcp.), 65 yds.
NRHEG Receiving: Peterson 4/75 (1 TD), Tollefson1/4, Bartness 1/1.
MCW Rushing: Faber 18/120, Larson 17/95 (3 TDs), Sommerstad 1/3, Lange 2/2 (1 TD), Dollen 1/0, Williamson 1/-1.
MCW Passing: Faber 8-17 (1 TD, 1 intcp.), 115 yds. Williamson 0-1 (0 TDs, 0 intcp.), 0 yds.
MCW Receiving: Weber 3/43 (1 TD), Larson 2/32, Biehn 2/20, Baker 1/20.
NRHEG Defense: Parpart-13 tackles, Erickson-9, Bartness-8, Tollefson-7, Pederson-6, Jensen-4, Hoppe-4, Krause-4, Goette-3, Peterson-2 (1 intcp.), Maxon-1, Merritt-1, Tracy-1.
