It is a very rare occasion when the Grand Meadow football team doesn’t have an answer for an opponent. But that moment lasted throughout the night as the Superlarks were defeated 42-12 by Mountain Lake Area in the Minnesota Class Nine Man Tournament quarterfinals in Art Hass Stadium Friday night.

The Wolverines (12-0 overall) led 42-0 early in the fourth quarter as they racked up 311 rushing yards on the night. GM (10-2 overall) went three-and-out or had a turnover in six of its first seven possessions of the game.

MLA quarterback Abraham Stoesz ran for 205 yards and four TDs, including runs of 35 and 45 yards in the first half.

“He’s a very good player, but their offensive line completely dominated our defensive line,” GM head coach Gary Sloan said. “(Stoesz) made a lot of good plays on his own, but I don’t remember the last time Grand Meadow was dominated like that. They did what they wanted to do. Nothing we were doing was working and everything they were doing was working. It’s frustrating and I’ve been on both sides of these. They’ve got a heck of a team.

Trailing 20-0 early in the second quarter, GM had a chance to get back in the game when it put together and eight-minute drive that went all the way to MLA’s seven yard line. However, Evan Oehlke couldn’t find Ben Kraft on a fourth and goal play and the drive ended without a score with 50 seconds left in the half.

MLA scored twice in a two-minute stretch to go up 35-0 early in the third quarter.

“They’re just a better football team,” said GM senior Nolan Skifter. “They won it mentally and they just full on beat us. I have a lot of respect for them. They play the right way, they’re a sound team and they know how to play football.”

This will be the first time in six seasons that a Section 1 team does not win the nine-man state championship. GM won the first four of those titles and Spring Grove won the last two.

“We’re proud to be part of that. It says a lot about southeast Minnesota, not just in nine man but in all of the classes. There’s good football in this area. Hats off to Mountain Lake tonight. They’ve got a great team,” Sloan said.

GM took a big step this season and the team is hoping to keep the momentum going into next year as well.

“We did a much better job in the offseason than in the past couple of years and it paid dividends in the end. It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but we had a great season,” Sloan said. “We’ve just got to get back at it again and get bigger and stronger.”

SCORING SUMMARY

GM 0  0   0  12 —  12

MLA 14 6  15  7  —  42

First quarter

(ML) Abraham Stoesz 35 run (Kolby Kremmin pass from Stoesz) (12 plays, 76 yards) 6:01

(ML) Stoesz 1 run (pass failed) (8 plays, 57 yards) :46

Second quarter

(ML) Stoesz 45 run (run failed) (1 play, 45 yards) 11:52

Third quarter

(ML) Stoesz 5 run (Mace Herrig) (7 plays, 55 yards) 6:37

(ML) Tommer Vongkaenchan 22 pass from Stoesz (Kremmin kick) (9 plays, 56 yards) 3:44

Fourth quarter

(ML) Micah Holmberg 2 run (Kremmin kick) (14 plays, 51 yards) 6:02

(GM) Dusty Copley 48 run (run failed) (2 plays, 55 yards) 5:01

(GM) Luke Speer 14 fumble recovery (run failed) (1 plays, 14 yards) 3:14

GM STATS

Rushing: Dusty Copley, 7-for-68, TD; Evan Oehlke, 10-for-36; Nolan Skifter, 5-for-8

Passing: Oehlke, 6-for-13, 49, 2 INT

Receiving: Luke Speer, 3-for-21; Copley, 1-for-16; Ben Kraft,

Defense: Taylor Glynn, 1 fumble recovery; Luke Speer, 1 fumble recovery

Penalties: 1-for-10

MOUNTAIN LAKE STATS

Rushing: 311

Passing: 81

Penalties: 3-for-20