| Indeed, it's a rematch: Anoka at Coon Rapids... |
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| Thursday, 04 September 2008 | |
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Anoka and Coon Rapids meet Friday night in a rematch of last year’s Pumpkin Bowl. It was a game won by Coon Rapids, which accomplished the job with an enthusiastic spread attack and a fake field goal . It was Coon Rapids’ only road win of 2007. Meantime, Anoka recovered, captured the No. 1-seeded position for the 7AAAAA playoff and set sail toward a third straight trip to the section championship game, which most football observers of District 11 football figured would be a rematch against Coon Rapids. That did not happen, however. Blaine upset Coon Rapids in the first round and for the record Andover ultimately came out of that side of the bracket to take on and beat Anoka for the section title. No rematch until now, and this year at Coon Rapids High School Both Anoka and Coon Rapids come into this match up 1-0 with respective wins over Centennial and Champlin Park. “They are a much different team then Champlin [Park],” said Jon Young, head coach of the Cardinals. “[Anoka plays] a different defense and is much more aggressive. Anoka blitzes a lot and has a greater big-play potential.” The latter comment referred to the three second quarter touchdown runs of 50, 54 and 26 yards that helped Anoka beat Centennial 19-14. Coach Jeff Buerkle of Anoka, however, was far less impressed with his team’s opening game performance than his counterpart from Coon Rapids. “We were lucky to win,” he said. “We did not play very well and if we continue to play like at the same level (only 54 yards passing offense and five turnovers) we won’t win a game over the next three weeks against teams like Coon Rapids, Champlin Park and Maple Grove. You can’t shoot yourself in the foot and expect to win all the time.” Buerkle was impressed with what Coon Rapids is bringing to Friday night’s table, the 29-22 win, which featured quarterback Blair Townsend’s performance of 139 yards rushing and 155 yards passing. He scored once on the ground and threw for two more against what is still a very good Champlin Park defensive unit. “Hey, this kid (Townsend) may just be the best quarterback in our conference this season,” said Buerkle. “I know we have a couple highly respected quarterbacks in our conference, including that Christopherson kid over at Osseo, but what this Townsend kid showed last week makes it a different game.” Young also mentioned that Anoka’s special teams are always solid and something on which Coon Rapids must keep tabs during the Friday night contest especially with the speed it possesses. This could be a key for Coon Rapids which gave up a kick off return for a touchdown last week to Champlin Park. Young said the team was intending to unveil a new kicker in Kevin Nelson, but he had been slowed by a groin injury. “All I know if we want to be successful this time around we must play very well,” said Buerkle. “And if we do, we are capable of playing with and beating anybody in this conference this season…”
— Staff
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