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Minnetonka routs Totino-Grace

By Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 09/01/11, 10:10PM CDT

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The Skippers gained revenge on Totino-Grace in a 28-0 victory

Coaches will insist that previous seasons are irrelevant. What’s past is past, they say. Last year is over, they will insist.

Hogwash.

Minnetonka, a team embarrassed at home in its 2010 opener, returned the favor Thursday, going on the road to beat Totino-Grace 28-0. It was vengeance for the Skippers, who were shut out by the Eagles 21-0 in last year’s opener.

“We thought about last year,” Minnetonka safety Charles Webb said. “We wanted to shut them out and do it by a bigger score than last year. And we did that.”

Webb and his teammates on the Minnetonka defense were the big reason why. Webb and identical twin cornerbacks KeAndre and DeAndre Singleton were blurs for much of the night, flying up to the line of scrimmage in run support and blanketing Totino-Grace receivers.

“This is the fastest defense I’ve had here,” said Minnetonka coach Dave Nelson, who is in his 10th year at the school. “The defense just played really, really well.”

Minnetonka led 7-0 at halftime and extended that lead to 14-0 in its first possession of the second half by going 74 yards in eight plays, capped by a perfect throw from quarterback Scott Benedict to Moore for a 43-yard touchdown.

Minnetonka sealed the game on Totino-Grace’s ensuing drive. The Eagles got down to the Minnetonka 10-yard line, but a sack by linebacker Jonathon Odom and a pass breakup by KeAndre Singleton on fourth down ended that threat.

“When we did that, that was huge,” DeAndre Singleton said. “That really pumped us up.”

Minnetonka put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter on a pair of scoring runs by Rashad Cohen of 74 and 5 yards.

“When Rashad scored on that long run, that’s when I started to feel comfortable,” Nelson said.

For Totino-Grace, this was a night unseen in those parts for a long time. The defending Class 4A champion Eagles — who will compete in Class 5A this year — turned the ball over four times and lost at home for the first time since 2005, a string of 37 consecutive victories.

“When you make mistakes, your play gets magnified,” Totino-Grace coach Jeff Ferguson said. “We did a lot of magnifying.”
 

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