SARTELL -- Andrew Deters caught four touchdown passes from Blake Guggenberger and Troy Monson had two short touchdown runs to help Sartell outslug Willmar 39-37 in a Central Lakes Conference game Friday.
A back-and-forth affair which featured eight lead changes saw Willmar (2-3, 3-3) take a 37-33 lead with 3:46 remaining when Ryan Lawler hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Alex Grove.
But Sartell, No. 8 in the Associated Press' Class AAAA poll, pieced together a nine-play scoring drive -- capped by Monson's second three-yard touchdown run of the night -- that chewed up just over three minutes off the clock and gave Willmar the ball back with just 24 seconds left. The Sabres (5-1, 5-1) held their ground and relegated Willmar to laterals to try to win the game.
Guggenberger threw for 261 yards without getting picked off and Deters hauled in 10 catches for 129 yards to spark the Sabres. Deter had touchdown catches covering 12, 7, 29 and 28 yards.
"It was a great high school game," said Willmar coach Jon Konold. "We both made big plays; we both made mistakes. They just made more plays than we did.
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"Their offense kept us off balance and we were unable to get much pressure with our pass rush. Deters is just a great athlete. When we blanketed him, they'd throw to No. 89 (Jordan Gieske)."
It was Guggenberger's legs however that ignited Sartell's game-winning drive. The junior quarterback picked up 17 yards on a run early in the series and on fourth-and-four at the Willmar 19 he scrambled to fire a 13-yard pass to Monson to keep the drive alive with just 1:04 left.
Willmar, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, survived a couple of special teams mistakes early on to take a 13-7 lead after the first quarter. Grant Schow rumbled 45 yards after picking up a Sartell blitz and scored again just over two minutes later by catching a 27-yard screen pass from Grove.
Lawler gave Willmar its biggest lead at 23-14 by bringing in a 58-yard scoring strike from Grove with 3:03 left in the first half. But the Sabres answered just over a minute later to get within two as Guggenberger threw a 49-yard pass from Gieske to set up Monson's first touchdown run.
Willmar's offense ran just 13 plays in the third quarter as Grove was picked off twice by Austin Guggenberger. After gaining 87 yards in the first half Schow was held to 13 yards in the third quarter, but the senior safely secured a pitch from Grove on the third play of the fourth quarter and scampered 46 yards back in the lead at 30-27.
Schow finished with 157 yards on 18 carries and Grove was 17-for-25 with 271 yards. Lawler had six catches gain 132 yards.
Sartell 39, Willmar 37
Willmar (2-3, 3-3) 13 10 0 14 -- 37
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Sartell (5-1, 5-1) 7 14 6 12 -- 39
Sar - Andrew Deters 12 pass from Blake Guggenberger (Cody Partch kick)
Wil - Grant Schow 45 run (Mike Fader kick)
Wil - Schow 27 pass from Alex Grove (kick blocked)
Sar - Deters 7 pass from Guggenberger (Partch kick)
Wil - Fader 25 field goal
Wil - Ryan Lawler 58 pass from Grove (Fader kick)
Sar - Troy Monson 3 run (Partch kick)
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Sar - Deters 29 pass from Guggenberger (pass failed)
Wil - Schow 46 run (Fader kick)
Sar - Deters 28 pass from Guggenberger (kick failed)
Wil - Lawler 33 pass from Grove (Fader kick)
Sar - Monson 3 run (kick blocked)
Willmar
Team statistics
First downs: 15 ... Rushing: 26-176 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 17-25-271-2 ... Fumbles lost: 2 ... Penalties: 3-35
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Individual statistics
Rushing: Grant Schow 18-157, Nathianal Swoyer 4-16, Alex Grove 4-3 ... Passing: Grove 17-25-271-2 ... Receiving: Ryan Lawler 6-132, Dean Stier 4-29, Jeremy Schendel 2-41, Nate Johnson 1-8, Schow 2-43, Matt Cordes 1-15 ... Punting: Schow 1-48 ... Interceptions: none ... Fumble recoveries: Landon Peterson 1 ... Tackles: Swoyer 14, Johnson 8, Gabe Amon 6, Jacob Damhof 5, Nate Esboldt 5, Jake Rambow 5, Jeff Duininck 4, Peterson 4 ... QB sacks: Andrew Chermack 1
Sartell
Team statistics
First downs: 21 ... Rushing: 31-98 ... Passing (com-att-yds-int.): 17-22-261-0 ... Fumbles lost: 1 ... Penalties: 1-10
Individual statistics
Rushing: Troy Monson 15-50, Blake Guggenberger 8-45, Eric O'Leary 7-4 ... Passing: Guggenberger 17-22-261-0 ... Receiving: Andrew Deters 10-122, Jordan Gieske 2-83, Monson 2-16, O'Leary 1-4, Tanner Locke 1-10, Andrew Kutz 1-16 ... Punting: BranDan Larsen-Miller 6-30.3 ... Interceptions: Austin Guggenberger 2 ... Fumble recoveries: not available ... Tackles (solo-assist): not available ... QB sacks: none
