Blaine quarterback Duke Anyanwu ran for a short gain near the goal line in the first quarter against Champlin Park. /Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune
Momentum played the field Friday in Blaine, uncertain whom to favor, jumping about like grease on a griddle. In the end, Blaine’s penchant for taking the ball away proved the more alluring than Champlin Park’s occasional big play as the Bengals beat their biggest Northwest Suburban Conference rival 35-21. Blaine force six Champlin Park turnovers – five interceptions by five different players – and held the Rebels’ dynamic running back Michael Sales in check. Sales rushed 20 times for just 43 yards, "Games are won and lost on turnovers," Blaine coach Shannon Gerrety said. "We preach the, we coach them, we practice them." Champlin Park’s defense had a game-plan as well:? shut down Blaine quarterback Duke Anyanwu, a physical 6-4, 220-pound force of nature. And, for the first half at least, the Rebels did what they set out to do, making Anyanwu work for his yards and rarely letting him into the secondary, where his size posed serious mismatches. But fate was working against the Rebels all evening. Blaine scored first, taking advantage of a interception by Andrew White and slugging its way 29 yards to an Anyanwu one-yard touchdown run. Meanwhile, the Champlin Park offense was forced to start its first four drives from inside its own 20-yard-line. The Rebels mustered just one first down on its first three drives and lost starting quarterback Nick Froehrich to an injury on their next possession. But Blaine wasn’t immune from momentum’s mood swings and Champlin Park tied the game 7-7 on 55-yard interception return by Anthony Hill late in the first quarter. The Rebels even took the lead in the second quarter when Michael Sales scored on one-yard run following a 69-yard pass from substitute quarterback Trevor Garrison to Bryce Marquardt. Blaine regained the lead in just before halftime, scoring on the ensuing drive, a 91-yard thing of beauty capped by a 24-yard reception by Kunle Ayinde. The Bengals then drove 43 yards in six plays following an interception with Luis Sanchez, a shifty tailback who was the benefactor of the attention paid to Anyanwu, scoring from 10 yards out, giving Blaine a 21-14 halftime lead. Blaine took advantage of another interception to go up 28-14 early in the third quarter on a six-yard run by Anyanwu. But the Rebels still had life and had a chance to swing the game in their favor, pulling to within 28-21 on Sales’ second touchdown of the game and appearing to move into Blaine’s red zone on a 30-yard run by Sales after a Blaine fumble early in the fourth quarter. That was a close as Champlin Park would get. The run was called back because of holding and Blaine, re-invigorated, got its fourth interception two plays later and scored the game-sealing touchdown on a six-yard run by Anyanwu.
The tailback darted through holes, shook off tackles and ran over defenders in the secondary when running past them was not an option.