Eye black running down his cheeks and a flat-bill baseball cap perched jauntily on his head, Lakeville North linebacker Jesse Cardenas reveled in the moment.
The biting wind and ridiculously cold early-October temperatures had kept an anticipated crowd of more than 8,000 to less than half of that number. But to Cardenas, his Panthers’ 15-0 victory over district rival Lakeville South was pretty close to perfect.
“Yeah, this feels great,” said Cardenas, the heart and soul of a Lakeville North defense that rarely has an off night. “This is what you play for.”
Both Lakeville teams have struggled offensively for much of the season. For Lakeville North (5-1), that simply means that the Panthers’ vaunted defense gets to add another element to its game.
Not only did it shut down the South offense for most of the game — the Cougars managed only 6 yards of offense in the first half and 116 for the game — the Panthers’ defense outscored its offense 8-7.
“We talked a little bit about that on the sidelines,” Cardenas said. “We got in a few little digs.”
Lakeville South’s problems began the first time it touched the ball. A reverse on the kickoff return didn’t fool anyone, and the Panthers’ Jacob Traefald tackled the ball carrier on the South 7.
Three plays later, Lakeville North’s defense made its first big statement when Carl Engwall caught South’s Tommy Duckworth in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead.
North took the ensuing free kick and made its best offensive showing of the game. It drove 55 yards for a touchdown, the last 20 coming on a sweep around left end by junior Joey Larson. The conversion attempt was blocked, giving North an 8-0 lead.
The Panthers’ defense spent the rest of the first half like an older brother keeping his sibling’s head under water. South could not get a first down and threw interceptions on two consecutive drives. On the second one, Cardenas tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage and defensive back Tyler Bonjean grabbed it and ran 23 yards for a touchdown and a 15-0 lead.
“Having our defense play like that gives us a lot of confidence,” Lakeville North coach Brian Vossen said. “The offense didn’t do much, but a lot of that was because of the weather. We didn’t need the offense to score. We just needed them to give us good field position, and they did that. And our defense lets us do that.”
Lakeville South got a spark in the second half when junior Will Heller took over at quarterback. The Cougars twice moved deep into Lakeville North territory, but were turned away each time.
