November 24, 2020
Governor Walz paused high school sports starting on Nov. 21 due to the pandemic. While seasons were cut short, there was a chance to fit in a few final games before the deadline.
The football section playoff game was Nov. 20, a day earlier than scheduled. The Spuds, seeded at No. 1, played Alexandria in a repeat of an earlier regular-season game. Moorhead outscored, out passed and outran the Cardinals in the 69-7 victory that capped the season for the state hopeful team.
Quarterback Trey Feeney passed for 372 yards with 27 of 38 completions, scoring seven touchdown passes to four different receivers. Feeney also rushed for 14 yards on two carries, scoring two touchdowns of his own. He was voted the offensive player of the game.
Moorhead's defense held the Cardinals to 78 passing yards and 18 rushing yards. They caught three interceptions and held Alex to only seven first downs. Thomas Myers led the defense pack with eight tackles and two assists. Four of his tackles were for losses. Jamal Dixon had three tackles, and both Wendt and Jack Teiken had two tackles that were both for losses. Jackson Gotta and Austin Altepeter also had two tackles each.
Moorhead's entire defense was named the defensive player of the game in the win against Alexandria on Nov. 20. Keanan Wendt (28) goes in for the tackle with his teammates close behind.
Moorhead ended the season with an undefeated record of 7-0. Moorhead scored 312 points to their opponents 27, averaging 44.6 points per game. Feeney completed his season with 36 touchdown passes, totaling 1973 passing yards in the seven games. Brady Walthall had 55 catches for a total of 799 yards and scored 14 touchdowns for the season. Blake Walthall had 37 catches for a total of 582 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Volleyball
The Spud volleyball team played three games last week, with the last two being the section playoffs. On Nov. 17, Moorhead hosted Sauk Rapids-Rice in a regular-season matchup that the Spuds won in three sets. Riane Mohagen led the Spuds with eight kills and Sam Zimmerman had seven. The team scored 11 Aces.
Moorhead was supposed to play Ricori at home on Nov. 19, but after Governor Walz’ order, the volleyball community decided to run their section tournament in the remaining two days of play. In the No. 3 seed spot, the Spuds traveled to Brainerd to play the No. 2 seed Warriors. Coach Char Lien stated, "We knew we were going to have a battle," and they did in the five-set match up that went back and forth.”
Brainerd started the first set with an ace and proceeded to a 4-3 lead before Moorhead rallied for two points to take the lead. Brainerd jumped back in bringing their lead to five, but Moorhead rallied again and tied the game at 15-15 eventually taking the lead at 21-20 and winning the set 25-23.
Moorhead came out hot in the second set with an 8-4 lead that they built to 15-10. Brainerd scored on two tips, built their momentum into a 19-18 lead and eventually took the set at 25-21.
The Spuds made some adjustments in their lineup and fired out a 10-1 lead in the third set. They kept their momentum running and kept that lead to the end with a 25-16 Spud win for set three.
In the fourth set, Moorhead built a 15-10 lead before Brainerd called a timeout and made some player adjustments of their own. Brainerd tied the score at 19-19 and took the win with 25-23.
In the final set, the two teams battled it out by staying within three points of each other. Moorhead built their lead to 8-6 before Brainerd tied the game. Tied again at 11-11, Moorhead forced a couple of errors and took the win at 15-11, winning the semifinal game in the rescheduled section tournament. Zimmerman led the Spuds with 20 kills and had 16 digs.
On Nov. 20, Moorhead played Sartell-St. Stephen at home for the section playoffs. On a night that honored the seniors, those five girls played their hearts out for the final game of the season. Getting off to a slow start, the Spuds battled to stay in the first set, dropping it 21-25. In the second set, they flipped the tables and won 25-20. The third set was close at 25-21, but the final set was all Spuds. They took that set, the game and the section playoff with a score of 25-12.
Spud Volleyball celebrates after winning the rescheduled section championship against Sartell on Nov. 20. Pictured: Sam Zimmerman (5), Ella Swedberg (8), Riane Mohagen (9), Mya Pfeifer (4), Bryn Stumo (11) and Alexa Gronwold (3).
Congratulations to our Spud sports teams! We are so proud of all of the hard work from our athletes, coaches and parents during this unique school year.