Football: Willmar Cardinals ready to rebound – West Central Tribune

WILLMAR — Looking to overcome an 0-4 start, the Willmar football team is hoping a rivalry game can get the Cardinals focused for the second half of the season.

Not only does 10th-ranked Rocori come to Hodapp Field for a Skyway Green District game at 7 p.m. Friday, it’s homecoming week for the Cardinals.

“Obviously we’ve had a rough start,” said senior defensive back Ethan Swierenga, “but right now, I see our guys are coming together. We’ve had a couple meetings just to talk about what we can do better. These guys are coming together really well. I really think we can have something going leading up to the playoffs.

“This group of guys has a really tight bond and everyone puts in the work. I love it; these guys are like family to me.”

While the homecoming festivities go on around the Cardinals, they’ll be prepping for a Spartans squad that’s been rolling. Since losing to Detroit Lakes in Week 1, Rocori has won three straight with victories over Minneapolis North (39-21), Benilde-St. Margaret’s (30-20) and last week against Hutchinson (35-14).

What stands out about the Spartans this season to Willmar head coach Jon Konold?

“They’re big; Their offensive line is huge,” Konold said. “They’ve got a couple really talented kids on offense that they get the ball to and they’re hard to defend that way. They switched up their defense a little bit and they’re athletic on the back end, which they always are. They bring a few different pressures that cause trouble for you in pass protection and the run game.”

In particular, two players have dictated Rocori’s success on offense: running back Dylan Thompson and wide receiver Grant Tylutki.

Thompson has been the workhorse, running 95 times for 421 yards and five touchdowns. That’s 105.2 rushing yards per game.

Tylutki is listed as a wideout, but he’s moved all over the field, according to Konold. He’s a home-run hitter with three touchdowns of 40-plus yards over the last two weeks. Tylutki scored on a 72-yard punt return against BSM and had TD runs of 84 and 43 yards last week against Hutchinson.

Tylutki has 178 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 13 carries. He’s also caught seven passes for 100 yards.

“We kind of have our defense in two parts this week,” Willmar senior linebacker Braeden Fagerlie said of slowing down the Spartans’ offense. “We got guys taking away the pass and guys taking away the run. We have to try to do our jobs and execute at a high level. Hopefully we can figure things out and get it done.”

Rocori also excelled in takeaways with six interceptions and two fumble recoveries in his three victories.

That is a point of emphasis for the Cardinals in the second half after committing eight turnovers over the first four games.

“Our guys work extremely hard in practice every week,” Konold said. “They’re been preparing and they’ve been getting better each week at the fundamentals of what we’re asking them to do. We’re struggling with our execution in games, so we’ve got to find a way to be able to take what we’re doing in practice and execute that in the game so that we can have some more success.”

Homecoming has been a common theme between the Cardinals and Spartans. Willmar beat Rocori 33-28 on homecoming week in 2022. The Spartans won their homecoming against the Cardinals last season, 24-0.

“It’s always been one of those games where it’s a big-time moment,” Fagerlie said. “It’s usually a pretty competitive game against those guys. Hopefully we can just lock in, know our assignments and do what we need to do.”

Swierenga added, “It felt great beating Rocori my sophomore year. I really want to beat Rocori this year.”

Upsala/Swanville Area at BBE

7 pm Friday

Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa and Upsala/Swanville Area meet up in a rematch of last season’s Section 4A championship. The setting will be much different, with the Jaguars hosting instead of playing under the lights at the FargoDome.

Both BBE and USA are thriving with 4-0 records this season. Both are also ranked in the Class A state poll, with the Jaguars at fifth and the Patriots at eighth.

BBE came off a 56-8 victory against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in Week 4. The Jaguars had 419 yards of total offense to the Falcons’ 109. The ground game went off for 285 yards, with Jack Lundberg breaking through with 205 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries. BBE’s defense also finished with three sacks, eight tackles for losses and a pair of fumble recoveries. Both takeaways from Ethan Mueller.

USA’s defense has been the calling card this season. The Patriots are holding teams to 3.5 points per game. No team has scored in double digits against USA. The defense also pitched two shutdowns, including a 20-0 victory over Browerville-Eagle Valley last week.

Blake Grimsley, MACCRAY

When MACCRAY trailed Lakeview last week, sophomore quarterback Blake Grimsley found a way to put the Wolverines on top en route to their first win of the season.

Down 7-0, Grimsley put MACCRAY ahead 8-7 following a 27-yard touchdown pass to Grayson Ahrenholz.

Then with 1 minute, 48 seconds left to play, Grimsley punched in a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Wolverines ahead for good in a 16-13 victory at Clara City.

Grimsley finished 12 of 19 passing for 167 yards and one interception. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 69 yards on 17 carries. Ahrenholz was his top target with seven catches for 71 yards.

The Wolverines face top-ranked (Class A) Minneota at 7 p.m. Friday in Minneota.

(Games at 7 pm unless noted)

Friday

Rocori at Willmar

New London-Spicer at Watertown-Mayer

Litchfield at Dassel-Cokato

West Central Area at ACGC

Upsala/Swanville at BBE

St. Cloud Cathedral at Paynesville

Browerville/Eagle Valley at Benson

BOLD at Dawson-Boyd

Minnewaska at Rockford

Montevideo at Sauk Centre

LPGE at KMS

Canby at LQPV

MACCRAY at Minneota

RCW at GHEC/Truman

Lakeview at YME