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East Ridge gets past Totino-Grace

By Mike Randleman, SportsEngine, 10/28/22, 8:15AM CDT

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The Raptors took a consistent offensive approach to beat the Eagles on Friday.


Photo by SportsEngine

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Tanner Zolnosky hurled it deep.

The ball was intercepted, but a defensive pass interference negated the blemish.

One of the state’s top gunslingers wasn’t scared by the dodged bullet. The East Ridge junior quarterback Zolnosky was nearly flawless the rest of the way, throwing five touchdowns and no interceptions in his team’s 40-14 win over Totino-Grace in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Zolnosky finished with a 19-for-26 passing line with 333 yards. He entered the night with 2,115 yards on the season, good for second in the state based on stats submitted to Minnesota Football Hub. Only Class 4A St. Anthony’s Caden Rodkewich was higher on the charts at 2,450 yards.

“He was calm in the pocket and made some great throws,” Totino-Grace coach Jay Anderson said of the 6-foot, 190 pound Zolnosky. “Just an outstanding quarterback who played well.”

The No. 3 seed East Ridge (6-3) led wire-to-wire.

The Raptors capped their opening drive on a more successful deep ball. Zolnosky feathered a pass to senior tight end/defensive lineman Jaylin Reese for 36 yards.

Reese, an Air Force commit, led all receivers with five catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound athlete played even bigger than that, consistently leaving would-be tacklers in his wake and demolishing blockers in his path on defense.

“What Jaylin gives us is a physical blocker inside who can also catch the ball, and that’s rare,” East Ridge coach Dan Fritze said. “Especially, he’s playing both ways and not coming off the field much. He can run, catch, he’s doing everything. He can throw it. Having him on the edge in our offense makes us a little bit different and we’re lucky to have him.”

A dropped pass on a potential first down past midfield halted the ensuing drive for No. 6-seed Totino-Grace (1-8).

Junior running back Isaac Walker saved his high water mark of 2022 for the postseason. He rushed five times for 46 yards on the Raptors’ second possession and capped it with a nine-yard score.

Walker posted a season high 122 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown and had one catch for 23 yards.

“Isaac played his best game,” Zolnosky said. “He ran the ball hard and his vision was amazing. That’s his thing. His football IQ and his vision are just the best things about him.”

East Ridge threatened to run away with it Friday up 13-0 before Totino-Grace fired back.

Senior quarterback Nicholas Ruohonen hit senior running back E.J. Mathis for a 15-yard touchdown to cut it to 13-7 early in the quarter. It was Ruohonen’s second touchdown pass of the season.

East Ridge’s only failure to score points in the first half came when time expired on its fourth drive.

The third drive ended in another Reese touchdown. He earned some yards after the catch on a tough 13-yard reception to make it 20-7. That was the halftime score.

The Eagles chipped into the deficit by marching down field to open the second half. Mathis showed off his speed on a 57-yard reception and Ruohonen had his top rush of the night for 19 yards. That set up Mathis for the 1-yard touchdown plunge.

“They’re a good, well-coached team,” Fritze said of Totino-Grace. “People may look at that score and think it was lopsided, and it wasn’t. We thought it was a fight the whole time and had to grind out the victory. I’m proud of the kids for doing that.”

East Ridge always had a response.

Senior receiver Riley Schwellenbach caught a 20-yard touchdown to go up by 12.

Totino-Grace routinely crossed the 50-yard line but struggled to cash in. A key play in the game resulted in the Eagles getting stuffed at the opposing 43-yard line on fourth-and-1 midway through the third quarter.

East Ridge took over with good field position and faced a similar situation. Fortunately for the Eagles, they have a guy like Reese. He took a fourth-and-1 carry up the gut and extended the drive by mere inches.

Before long, Zolnosky was dropping an 18-yard pass right in the bread basket of Deontae Flemino for a touchdown in the left end zone.

“I’m proud of the way they fought,” Anderson said. “There were just a few plays here and there we didn’t make, especially in the first half, and they made. Give them credit, their kids made plays all over the place.”

Totino-Grace drove into enemy territory yet again early in the fourth quarter, but a Grant Miley interception thwarted the momentum.

“It’s kind of been what our defense has been all year – bend, don’t break,” Fritze said. “Get turnovers when they need to, get fourth down stops when they need to.”

Another 20-yard touchdown to Schwellenbach on the next drive was the cherry on top for an East Ridge team that blew past its season average of 28.6 points per game.

Friday was less stressful than having to come back down 23-0 to win 27-23 like the Raptors did in Week 8 against St. Michael-Albertville.

A young, inexperienced East Ridge team has proved resilient from an 0-2 start to the season, too.

“I think it’s gone awesome,” Zolnosky said of the season, which continues Nov. 4 at No. 2 seed Prior Lake. “We’ve accomplished offensively what we wanted to accomplish at the start of the year. We just have great chemistry throughout our offense, and the defense does, too. We’ve got their backs; they’ve got ours. I think the chemistry of our team has kept us coming back from games, coming back in games. I love it.”

First Report

In the programs’ first ever meeting, East Ridge beat Totino-Grace 33-14.

The No. 3 seed Raptors (6-3) advance to the round of 16 in the Class 6A playoffs. The No. 6 seed Eagles close their season with a 1-8 record.

East Ridge was led by the class’ top passer based on yardage submitted to Minnesota Football Hub. Tanner Zolnosky’s stat line ended at 19-for-26 passing for 333 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. 

Running back Isaac Walker complemented on the ground with his best performance of the season. He rushed 22 times for 122 yards and a touchdown. He entered the night with 381 rushing yards.

Tight end Jaylin Reese led the receiving corps with five catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Riley Schwellenbach wasn’t far off with five catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

The Eagles are in the midst of their fifth consecutive winning season.

Totino-Grace was paced by E.J. Mathis, who rushed 14 times for 49 yards and a touchdown. He caught five passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Nicholas Ruohonen finished at 10-for-22 passing for 159 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

MN Football Hub polls are for entertainment purposes only. 

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