Lakeville South quarterback Mitchell Leidner (7) cut back up field on a first half keeper. Marlin Levison, Star Tribune
Lakeville South senior quarterback Mitch Leidner admitted he had a strong case of butterflies before Friday’s season opener against Eagan.
To complicate matters, Leidner and his Cougars teammates had to break home game tradition by hopping on a bus to Lakeville North High School for the game because of poor field conditions across town.
A short ride, yes. But just more time to think.
The trek back was a little easier.
Leidner, who committed to the Gophers over the summer, at one point missed on six of seven passes.
He settled down to eventually complete 11 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown and ran for two other scores to lead a 35-21 Week 1 victory.
Facing third-and-8 from his own 37-yard line on the third play of the second half, Leidner hit Devon Bzoskie for a 48-yard strike. Five plays later Leidner plunged in from a yard out to break a 14-14 tie and give the Cougars their first lead since early in the first quarter.
“Good play calls,” Leidner grinned. “At halftime we just said we had to come out and run hard. And you know what? We put our pads down and ran and it opened up the passing game.”
Lakeville South’s defense shored up, too, after allowing the Wildcats to score twice in 27 seconds in the first half.
The Cougars took a 7-0 lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass
from Leidner to Matt Heller — capped when Heller caught the ball at the 5, stopped on a dime, spun around a defensive back and walked alone into the end zone.
Eagan answered, though, when Aaron Roundtree caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bauer while lying on his back.
Mack Nelson then took advantage of a Lakeville South fumble on the ensuing possession when he hauled in a 22-yarder from Bauer, who finished with 136 yards passing and three TDs, for a 14-7 lead.
The celebration was short-lived as the Cougars scored the next 28 points of the game.
“We started a little slow — the first-game jitters,” Lakeville South coach Larry Thompson said. “But once we got the ball rolling, we really showed we’ve got a lot of guys who can make plays.”
NAME | HIGH SCHOOL | YEAR | POS. | COLLEGE | VERBAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duke Anyanwu | Blaine | Senior | QB | Minnesota | Yes |
Matt Arends | Prior Lake | Senior | WR | Princeton | Yes |
Tavaughn Blair | Hopkins | Senior | SS | Northern Iowa | Yes |
Cal Bloom | Osseo | Senior | TE | Central Florida | Yes |
Nick Carr | Totino-Grace | Senior | OL | South Dakota State | Yes |
Kevin Carroll | Edina | Senior | OL | Northern Iowa | Yes |
Paddy Clancy | St. Thomas Academy | Senior | DB | Dartmouth | Yes |
Breion Creer | Benilde-St. Margaret's | Senior | DT | Northern Iowa | Yes |
Nick Davidson | Eden Prairie | Senior | OT | Stanford | Yes |
Rob Diane | Robbinsdale Cooper | *RCC Junior | DE | South Dakota State | Yes |
Cedric Dicke | Cannon Falls | Senior | LB | Minnesota | Yes |
Karmichael Dunbar | Prior Lake | Senior | DL | Louisianna | Yes |
Isaac Fruechte | Caledonia | *RCTC Sophomore | WR | Minnesota | Yes |
Joel Fuxa | Minnetonka | Senior | TE | Drake | Yes |
Jonathan Harden | Cretin-Derham Hall | Senior | DT | Western Michigan | Yes |
Tyler Hartmann | Andover | Senior | DE | Minnesota | Yes |
Isaac Hayes | St. Thomas Academy | Senior | OL/DL | Minnesota | Yes |
Cody Hazelette | Simley | Senior | LB/TE | Northern Illinois | Yes |
Kyle Hughes | Minneapolis Washburn | Senior | WR/DB | Eastern Michigan | Yes |
D.J. Hebert | Osseo | Senior | QB | Northern Iowa | Yes |
Cavonte Johnson | Edina | Senior | DB | Minnesota | Yes |
Will Johnson | Osseo | Senior | TE | West Virginia | Yes |
Zack Johnson | Eastview | Senior | OL | North Dakota State | Yes |
Paul Kaczor | St. Cloud Tech | Senior | OL | Harvard | Yes |
Brian Labat | Detroit Lakes | Senior | RB | North Dakota | Yes |
Andrew Larson | Eden Prairie | Senior | RB | Harvard | Yes |
Brandon Larson | Bemidji | Senior | LB | North Dakota | Yes |
Ben Lauer | Wayzata | Senior | OL | Minnesota | Yes |
Mitch Leidner | Lakeville South | Senior | QB | Minnesota | Yes |
Andre McDonald | Hopkins | Senior | WR | Minnesota | Yes |
Nate Meixell | Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial | Senior | LB | South Dakota State | Yes |
Nate Meyer | Rocori | Senior | QB | South Dakota State | Yes |
Drake Michaelson | Eden Prairie | Senior | LB | Wofford | Yes |
Rossevelt Morisset | Thief River Falls | Senior | WR | Southeastern Louisiana | Yes |
Andy Moritko | Totino-Grace | Senior | DB | South Dakota State | Yes |
Philip Nelson | Mankato West | Senior | QB | Minnesota | Yes |
Brett Pierce | Holy Angels | Senior | DL | North Dakota State | Yes |
Jonah Pirsig | Blue Earth | Senior | OL | Minnesota | Yes |
Nick Rallis | Edina | Senior | S | Minnesota | Yes |
Taj Rich | Robbinsdale Cooper | Senior | LB | North Dakota | Yes |
Zach Riopelle | Warren-Alvarado-Oslo | Senior | LB | North Dakota State | Yes |
Kasey Robinson | Breck | Senior | WR | Drake | Yes |
Chase Roullier | Burnsville | Senior | OL | Wyoming | Yes |
E.J. Welch | Mesabi East | *MRCC Freshman | DL | North Dakota | Yes |
Lucas Wiborg | DeLaSalle | Senior | OG | Cornell | Yes |
Evan Williams | DeLaSalle | *IWCC Freshman | RB | Northern Iowa | Yes |
Maxx Williams | Waconia | Senior | TE | Minnesota | Yes |
Carey Woods | Bemidji | Senior | WR | North Dakota State | Yes |