CLASS D STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
No stopping Maple Grove
Red Dragons finish unbeaten season
SYRACUSE — Maple Grove looked pretty impressive all season, but Saturday, in the biggest game of the year, the Red Dragons proved to everyone in the state that they are indeed the greatest show on turf.
Junior quarterback Chris Secky looked like the next coming of Joe Montana in accounting for five touchdowns, as Maple Grove capped its perfect season with a nearly flawless performance in the Carrier Dome. It overwhelmed Section VII champion Moriah, 55-7, in the Class D final before an estimated 1,500 fans.
Secky threw three long touchdown passes, all to senior receiver Joe Caporale, and scored on first-quarter runs of 13 and 3 yards in helping the Red Dragons (13-0) win their second state championship and first in a decade.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said junior lineman Andrew Wascher, who recovered two fumbles and finished with six tackles. “It’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of since you were a little kid.”
“It [feels] a lot different than winning [the state title] in basketball,” said Secky, the game’s Most Valuable Player who piled up 242 yards in offense in winning his second state title in eight months. “Football, it’s a little more emotional after you win.”
It was quite the euphoric day for the Maple Grove faithful on hand, with Secky thrilling the masses by connecting with Caporale (six catches, 175 yards) on scoring bombs of 63, 48 and 62 yards. The first two put the finishing touches on a 21-point second quarter as the Red Dragons led at halftime, 42-0.
Maple Grove, which averaged 50.8 points per game, proved all season it could score quickly but Saturday bordered on the ridiculous. The Red Dragons needed just 12:22 — yes, 12:22 — of possession time to threaten the state Class D final record for points (64). They scored on each of their eight possessions, scoring twice on six total offensive plays in the second half. Maple Grove finished with 389 yards on 29 plays, while the Vikings had 164 on 68.
Moriah (12-1) had the ball for all but 2:23 in the second half, executing an onside kick after Ron Schofield’s 10-yard TD run with 5:30 left to make it 49-7.
But the Vikings simply weren’t quick enough to hang with the Red Dragons. Moriah’s numerous blitzes didn’t force Secky into any mistakes either as the 6-foot-2, 170-pounder calmly completed 8 of 9 passes for 214 yards.
Maple Grove drove 69 yards on its opening possession, Secky scoring on a QB draw from the 13. Jake Larson (63 yards on seven carries, two TDs, 10 tackles) had a pair of huge runs on the drive (29 and 10), while Adam Hover ran 11 yards prior to the score.
While the Red Dragons’ offense has earned lots of attention, the defense has put the “O” in positions to succeed throughout this championship season, entering the final at plus-29 in turnovers.
Saturday was no different, as Wascher and Matt Fox (nine tackles) recovered fumbles on Moriah’s first five offensive plays. Branden Fein recovered a punt he blocked on the first play of the second quarter — the Vikings’ third possession — as the Red Dragons had drive starts from the Moriah 9, 26 and 4 after Secky’s first TD.
And to think Maple Grove coach Curt Fischer thought his team got off to a slow start.
“I guess it’s a great problem to have to be up, 14-0 [in the opening 4:39], and feel like you’re not playing that well,” said Fischer, who also coached the 1998 title-winning team. “This is unbelievable. We went through 10 years of great football players and we didn’t get here. After you’ve won one you always feel like you can get back here. This [title] is for them, too.”
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