DeAndre Singleton wasn’t out of position, but he was a couple of yards away from the receiver he was assigned to cover when the pass left the hand of the Totino-Grace quarterback.

It was fourth-and-10 and Grace was sitting at the Minnetonka 14-yard-line. It was the 2010 Class 4A champions responding drive after Minnetonka had taken a 14-0 lead midway through the third quarter. If the Eagles score, momentum is on their side.
But Singleton was right where he wanted to be. He read the pass perfectly and responded in a blink, using an eye-opening burst to move up on the ball and bat it away before it had a chance to reach the receiver.

Drive snuffed. Momentum saved.

“That changed the game,” said KeAndre Singleton, DeAndre’s twin brother. “We knew then that we were going to win the game. It was an unbelievable feeling.”

It was just one of many impressive plays made by the Minnetonka defensive backs in the Skippers’28-0 drubbing of Totino-Grace. That group, which also includes a legitmate Division I prospect at free safety in Charles Webb, took advantage their eye-opening speed and rapid-fire reflexes to elevate Minnetonka’s defense from good to superb. Seemingly open holes closed quickly, running backs rarely found open space to run and pass receivers spent much of the game in close proximity to a Minnetonka defender.

“When you get the kind of speed we have on defense, it makes it tough on an offense,” Minnetonka coach Dave Nelson said. “Our offense has plenty of work to do, but the defense played extremely well.”

For the game, DeAndre Singleton had two pases defensed and an interception. KeAndre Singleton also knocked down two throws. Having two players like the Singleton brothers to work with is a luxury Webb is glad to have.

“It’s so nice to have them out there,” he said. “I know I can make plays because I know I have help over the top,” he said. “And I know if one of them gets a big play, it’s a pick-six.”

Totino-Grace coach Jeff Ferguson raved about the play of the Minnetonka defensive backfield.

“They are very quick,” he said. “If that defense is as good as I think it is, they’re going to give a lot of people a lot of problems.”
 

Eagles go back to work

While getting shut out at home is a rare occurance at Totino-Grace – in fact, losing a home game at all is unusual, considering the Eagles had won 37 in a row in their own stadium before Thursday – Ferguson knew his team still had the chance to be playing deep into November.

“We have a lot of work to do, but if we get our mistakes cleaned up, we still can be a very good team,” he said. “We have a lot of inexperience that has to get the rust off. It’s ain’t how you start, it’s how you finish.”