GRANITE FALLS - Seven sections throughout central and western Minnesota played its championship football games at the Fargodome. Among the 14 schools that made the trek across state lines, Wabasso had the longest trip, an estimated 225-mile journey.
Yellow Medicine East also had a long route, traveling north about 183 miles to play in the Section 6AA title game. The trip was worth it as the Sting came home last Friday with a 35-12 win over West Central Area.
YME's reward is a 7 p.m. home game against No. 6 ranked Hawley (11-0) Friday in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Just like the Sting (9-2), Hawley also played its section championship at the Fargodome, but its trip covered only 25 miles.
"I guess it's the luck of the draw," said YME head coach Dave Brokke, who has compiled a record of 221-97 in his 31 seasons of coaching. "I don't know if the kids are happy, but the fans and our staff are happy to have a home game. It's a big game because you get to go to the Metrodome with a win."
The Sting also hosted Eden Valley-Watkins in the first round of last year's state tournament after beating Ortonville in the section final at the Fargodome. That was the school's first appearance at the state football tournament since Echo joined Granite Falls and Clarkfield in 1995 to form Yellow Medicine East.
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YME players didn't mind traveling so far to play for a state tournament berth.
"It wasn't bad," said senior running back Jerrod Lobdell, who leads the team with 1,018 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. "We were preoccupied. We played cards, watched movies and talked about the game. Just the thought of playing in a championship game makes it a different trip."
The Sting hope they can make another trip after Friday. They'll have to slow down a potent Nuggets' running attack to get to the Metrodome. Hawley is averaging 322 rushing yards a game, fueling an offense that has outscored its opponents 418-104.
Senior tailback Cory Mattson has led the charge with 1,434 yards on only 168 carries - an average of 8.5 yards per touch - and 20 touchdowns. Junior fullback Nick Paur has piled up 841 yards and nine touchdowns. Mattson has 3,109 yards and 36 touchdown runs in his high school career.
"They have two quick backs, but we have played the run pretty well," said Brokke. "They score a lot on the ground and we'll try to make them pass."
That's something Hawley hasn't done a lot this year. The Nuggets have completed 19 of 56 passes for 275 yards and been picked off nine times. On defense, though, Hawley limits opponents to gain only 168 yards of offense a game, 105 on the ground and 63 through the air. Andrew VanHavermaet, a 6-3 sophomore defensive back, has nine interceptions. YME senior quarterback Luke Berg has been picked off 13 times, but not once in the postseason. He has also completed 95 of 175 passes for 1,549 yards and 21 touchdowns.
YME plays a similar type of game on defense. The Sting allow 114 rushing yards and 97 passing yards a game.
"We'll have to win the fight on the line," said Lobdell. "We held some of the better running backs in the area to low yards."
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In their current seven-game winning streak, the Sting have allowed only one running back to gain over 100 yards.
"We know we're shaky in the beginning, but as the game goes on we fed off each other," said Lobdell who is among a group of 21 YME seniors that have gone 13-9 at home since they were freshmen. "We have playmakers on defense. One big defensive play can spark the offense and it goes the other way, too; the offense can spark the defense."
