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Moose Lake/WR races to win

By MN Football Hub staff, 09/30/11, 10:44PM CDT

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Junior Jake Disterhaupt scores six TDs as Rebels extend road win streak


Moose Lake/Willow River's Jake Disterhaupt, right, rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns and caught two scoring passes from Rebels quarterback Tony Adamczak, left. Photo by Helen Nelson

They were yelling and smiling and laughing.

Photos were being taken. Three running backs huddled in a group shot over here. A couple of seniors standing and posing over there.

Parents and friends stayed on the field long after the game, adding to the festive atmosphere.

“Rebel football, baby!” was one random cry amid the euphoria.

Welcome to Moose Lake/Willow River football, a program that takes fun – and winning – to heights few others in the state can approach.

The Rebels beat Deer River 60-16 on Friday, Sept. 30, extending their regular season winning streak to 43 games. Moose Lake/Willow River has won 30 straight regular season road games.

The regular season win streak dates to a 15-0 home loss to Deer River on Sept. 8, 2006. The regular season road winning streak goes all the way back to Sept. 10, 2004, when Esko secured a one-point win over the Rebels.

“These kids over the years, they have won a ton of football games,” Rebels coach Dave Louzek said. “But, yeah, it never gets old.”


Moose Lake/Willow River's Jake Disterhaupt scores one of his six touchdowns against Deer River. Photo by Helen Nelson

Moose Lake/Willow River reached the state Class 2A title game in 2009, where it lost 33-22 to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown. This season the Rebels are 5-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 2A. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown is No. 1.

Last season Moose Lake/Willow River lost to Eden Valley-Watkins in the state Class 2A quarterfinals.

“You think about a lot of teams, and they have a good year and then maybe not such a good year,” said junior Jake Disterhaupt, who scored six touchdowns against the Warriors to give him 17 this season. “To be so consistent, it’s great. It’s all coach Louzek, he is like a dad to all of us.”

After thumping the previously unbeaten Warriors, the Rebels’ went to work putting blades of grass in an empty water bucket. Tradition dictates that after road victories, grass from the site of the victory returns to Moose Lake where it is then buried in the Rebels’ practice field.

“It is just a Rebel tradition that we have had for as long as I’ve been coaching,” said Louzek, who is in his 13th season as the Rebels’ coach. “We take (the road winning streak) real seriously. We have to play like it is our turf and we have to take some of it home with us.”

Team bonding is a big deal for Louzek, who consistently assembles teams of about 60 or 70 players. Moose Lake/Willow River has a combined enrollment of 315. Success is merely a side dish that comes with traditions such as plucking and planting blades of grass.

“It is not just about the winning,” Louzek said. “It’s about a lot of team chemistry and team building. You can just see it in these guys that they are enjoying what they are doing.”

Junior quarterback Tony Adamczak might be having the most fun of all the Rebels. He has the luxry of handing off to trio of gamebreakers in Disterhaupt, Josh Cisar and Chris Gassert.

“I can just hand the ball off and let them go,” Adamczak said. “Jake’s speed is amazing. Whenever I seem him pull around that corner, I just know he’s gone. I just start clapping, knowing he’s going for a touchdown.

“I enjoy every second of it. It is great. I love everybody on this team. It is like one big family.”

-- Loren Nelson, MN Football Hub staff

Game Recap

Junior Jake Disterhaupt scored six touchdowns and amassed 328 yards of offense (213 rushing yards, 115 receiving yards) to power unbeaten and No. 2-ranked (Class 2A) Moose Lake/Willow River past Deer River 60-16 on Friday, Sept. 30, at Deer River Elementary School.

Deer River, ranked No. 9 in Class 1A, entered the game with a 5-0 record and figured to give the Rebels, who entered the contest having won 42 straight regular season and games and 29 consecutive regular season road games, one of their toughest matchups of the season.

The deceptively fast Disterhaupt -- he’s a lanky 6-foot-1, 185 pounds  -- quickly dashed any thoughts of a Warriors upset. He scored on runs of 21 and 65 yards in the first quarter, and both his of receptions resulted in long touchdowns.

Disterhaupt now has 17 touchdowns and 813 rushing yards this season.

Chris Gassert and Josh Cisar also rushed for more than 100 yard for the Rebels who piled up more than 500 rushing yards.

Deer River, which scored on its opening two possessions of the first quarter, played without starting quarterback Jack Carter, who is out with a hand injury.

-- Loren Nelson, MN Football Hub staff

Statistics, Summary

1. Jake Disterhaupt, Moose Lake/Willow River
A 6-foot-1, 185-pound junior, Disterhaupt is the very definition of a big play waiting to happen. Everything Disterhaupt touched turned to gold against the Warriors, who had no answer for his blazing speed. Most all of Disterhaupt’s six touchdowns were of the spectacular variety, including both of his receptions. He finished with a stunning 328 combined rushing and receiving yards.

2. Josh Cisar, Moose Lake/Willow River
The Rebel’s a stable of breakaway running backs also includes the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Cisar, who ran for 155 yards on nine carries.

3. Damon Benham, Deer River
Filling in ably for injured starting quarterback Jack Carter, Benham helped the Warriors keep pace with the Rebels in the early going by engineering two scoring drives. He rushed for 82 yards, passed for 71 more and led Deer River's defense with eight tackles.

-- Loren Nelson, MN Football Hub staff

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