LE ROY – The Cardinals were beaten at their own game in the quarterfinals of the Nine-man State tournament.

Saturday, November 11, 2000

LE ROY – The Cardinals were beaten at their own game in the quarterfinals of the Nine-man State tournament. All year LeRoy-Ostrander had relied on the hard-hitting rushing attack to run off a 9-0 mark.

Saturday afternoon it was the Chokio-Alberta/Herman-Norcross Spartans taking a ground attack to another level in a 49-22 win over the Cardinals.

As a team C-A/N-H ran 68 times for 424 yards. Its big interior line of guards Ben Reimers and Colby Larson and center Charlie Stroman opened the holes. The linemen average 230 pounds.

For the second straight year the Spartans have denied L-O a trip to the Metrodome. C-A/N-C blew out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.

"We couldn’t stop them," L-O coach Stan Olson said. "That was evident from the start."

On its third play from scrimmage C-A/N-C scored on a 44-yard pass by Steve Hartman to John Ekberg.

"We wanted to loosen them up with a throw," C-A/N-C coach Neal Hofland said. "The first quarter set the tone for the game."

"We came in with a defense to stop the run," Olson said, "stacking the line. They got us out of that defense with the touchdown pass."

C-A/N-C then got L-O to go three and out. The Spartans then went on a 12-play 67 yard drive to go up 14-0. Drew LeClair walked in from one-yard out at the 5:13 mark.

Down 14-0 so quickly L-O took to the air. Starting at his 23 yard line L-O quarterback Ryan King completed a five-yard pass to Chad Orum. Ben Adams then was stuffed for no gain. On third down King threw to Dustin Thorson. Thorson could not quite gather the pass in and L-O again had to punt.

The Spartans then went on an eight-play, 60-yard drive. LeClair scored from seven yards out.

LeClair and Randy Backman ran roughshod over the Cardinals. LeClair had 21 carries for 114 yards and Backman 19 for 161 yards. Backman also had two touchdown runs in the game, a 44 yard dash and a one-yard plunge.

L-O finally was able to move the ball on its third series. The Cardinals got it down to the Chokio 27 but the drive stalled. After a motion penalty made it third-and-11, Reimers then tackled Adams for a four-yard loss. L-O punted away.

The Cardinals then stopped Chokio for the first time in the game. An 11-yard return by Adams of the ensuing punt set up the Cardinals at the Chokio 35 yard line. L-O overcame a motion and clipping penalty and scored from 27 yards out on a fourth-and-12 screen pass from King to Adams. A fake kick play converted a two-point conversion, with Orum hitting Adams with a pass.

Chokio got back in gear and scored before the half was over. Backman capped off an 88-yard drive with his 44 yard run.

"After they scored on a screen pass we came back with a big touchdown drive at the end of the first half," Hofland said. "Backman is some kind of football player."

At the half Chokio was up 29-8.

L-O moved the ball down to the Chokio six yard line in its opening drive of the second half but they fumbled the ball away.

The Cardinals stopped the Spartans to quickly get the ball back. L-O then moved down for the score on a 53-yard drive. Brandon Vreeman scored from one-yard out. The two-point conversion failed making the score 29-14.

The Spartans squashed the Cardinals hopes going on a 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive that consumed almost five minutes of the clock. The big play was a five-yard option run by Hartman on fourth-and-two at the L-O 21-yard line.

"I’ve pitched the ball a lot this year," Hartman said. "On that option I thought I might as well take it through the opening."

Chokio scored again three minutes later to go up 42-14 after recovering a fourth down fumble at the L-O 29.

The Cardinals final score of the game and the 2000 season was a 32-yard pass play from King to Thorson.

"I was very happy with the way we fought in the second half," Olson said.

King was 16-of-25 for 191 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in the game. Adams completed one halfback pass to Eric Kottschade for 19 yards and Orum had the two-point conversion completion. Orum had six catches for 66 yards. Adams had five for 48 and Thorson four for 60 yards. L-O ran for 119 yards on 38 rushes. Kottschade picked up 53 yards on a dozen carries.

Chokio will now play Westbrook-Walnut Grove in the semifinals Thursday at the Metrodome. Westbrook beat Verndale 18-14 on Saturday.