MACA volleyball kept climbing in the Section 3AA playoffs Tuesday night at home. We hosted a North semi-finals match. The Tigers took care of business in the minimum three games. We prevailed over Eden Valley-Watkins by these scores: 25-17, 25-17 and 25-21. Our overall season record now is 18-6. EV-W ends its season with an 18-10 mark.
Liz Dietz batted two serving aces while Kenzie Stahman had one. Our setting stalwarts were LaRae Kram with 18 assists and Dietz with 16. Bailey Marty was at the fore with her hitting prowess, powering ten kills. Lexi Pew had nine kills, Kenzie Hockel eight and Jen Solvie seven. Then we have Emma Berlinger with four kills and Riley Decker, Kram and Sophie Carlsen each with two.
Pew powered four ace blocks. Solvie and Kram each had one ace block. In digs it was Decker leading the way with 16 followed by Marty with 15, Hockel with eight and Macey Libbesmeier with seven.
Senior captains Marty and Decker are setting an example with their leadership.
Next: the North title match set for today (Thursday, Nov. 1) against No. 1 seed Paynesville at Minnewaska. Match-time is 7 p.m.
Football: Pillager 28, Tigers 7
Winning one game in post-season got MACA the opportunity to make the very long trip to Pillager for Round 2. It's quite far to the north. It's in the same neighborhood as the old El-Ray truck stop and cafe. I saw the place when I went to Pillager for post-season softball involving the Tigers. I rode with the Exners and I think we made two trips there. I recall complaints after the first game that Pillager hadn't gone out of its way to host a section-level softball game. So for the second game, they at least had a little hot dog concession set up. Please be aware re. me that I remember lots of minute things.
It's beautiful country up there to be sure. But I'm getting a little old to embrace such long trips from Morris. It looked like the old El-Ray building has been replaced by a new one. And, checking the Internet, I think it has a new name now, "Brick's." My recently-deceased mother was a native of nearby Brainerd. I hung around there some in my youth.
Is it true that the Saturday (10/27) game had its starting time moved earlier than what was originally announced? I heard it was, based on what I picked up at DeToy's Restaurant Saturday a.m. The visiting fans should not have to make such a long trip home late at night. It's really a safety issue.
The game didn't bring many highlights for our MACA Tigers. Yes, we got within seven points on the scoreboard during the third quarter. Our fans could embrace hope. Hope faded as the seventh-ranked (in Minnesota AA) Huskies of Pillager seized the momentum after that. The Huskies scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter with the ball carried by Luke Woidyla and Tucker Peterson. Pillager ended up in line with its state-ranked billing, and MACA had the books closed on its season. Surely there were lots of season highlights for orange and black fans to savor.
But the day belonged to the Huskies Saturday. Their Tucker Peterson rumbled for 97 yards in 20 carries. Pillager's rushing yards totaled 235. And on defense, the Huskies presented a state-ranked sheen too. They clamped down to hold the Tigers to 45 yards rushing and 50 through the air. Now the Huskies are readying to play Osakis who holds the No. 3 rank in AA. Pillager and Osakis will vie in the Fargodome.
It was Pillager getting the scoring going on Saturday: Jack Bentson ran the ball in from the three. Peterson added two with a conversion run. The score was 8-0 at the end of the first quarter. Pillager also scored the game's second TD which came in the second quarter. Peterson showed his pass-catching flair, making an eleven-yard reception that had Erik Peterson throwing the ball. The conversion was no-go. The Tigers had to accept a goose egg on the scoreboard at halftime.
Camden Arndt injected optimism for Tiger fans with his 13-yard TD run in the third. Eli Grove added the PAT and now it's a one-possession game, score of 14-7. But the fourth quarter would belong to the Huskies. Two touchdowns later, Pillager could begin setting their thoughts on the 6AA championship game, to be played on Friday, Nov. 2 (3 p.m.). Pillager's final touchdown on the night, the Tucker Peterson four-yard run, was followed by Hunger Gjovik's successful conversion run.
The final score: 28-7. I would have had a couple cups of black coffee at the El-Ray (Brick's?) before heading home. I remember being at the El-Ray once when a motorcycle game pulled in. You don't forget that sort of thing.
The total offense numbers were 95 yards for Motown and 258 for Pillager. Arndt was held down as his rushing yards were 58, on 13 carries. Other Tigers had minimal impact carrying the football: Matt McNeill, Jack Riley, Kenny Soderberg and Colton Scheldorf.
Tucker Peterson was joined in the Pillager rushing attack by Woidyla, Bentson and Gjovik.
Our quarterback Durgin Decker found the going rough against the Pillager defense. Decker is fairly new to the varsity scheme of things. He got another dose of valuable experience Saturday but it was not a night for him to excel: five completions in 19 attempts with one interception, 50 yards. Credit Pillager's defense. Erik Peterson did Pillager's minimal passing and had two of seven numbers, zero interceptions and 23 yards.
Colton Scheldorf had three of our catches for 35 yards. Arndt and Riley had our other catches. The two Pillager receptions were by Spencer Schaefer and Tucker Peterson.
MACA football had an entertaining 6-4 campaign in 2018. Now it's time to cheer for volleyball as we begin to anticipate winter! Remember the year of the Halloween blizzard?
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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