Glencoe-Silver Lake wins 3A championship 42-21

Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune

Glencoe-Silver Lake quarterback Kyler Anderson ran for a first half touchdown against DeLaSalle during the Class 3A championship game Saturday at the 2008 Prep Bowl at the Metrodome.

Associated Press

Last update: November 29, 2008 - 4:20 PM

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MINNEAPOLIS - Glencoe-Silver Lake's Kyler Anderson watched last year as Matt Muenchow, then the Panther's senior quarterback, tied a Prep Bowl record with five touchdowns.

Muenchow is gone. But with Anderson taking over as a sophomore starting quarterback, the Panthers continue to amass state titles.

Anderson ran for 135 yards and two touchdowns Saturday to lead Glencoe-Silver Lake to its third straight Class 3A championship with a 42-21 win against DeLaSalle.

"Everybody said, 'What do you think of Muenchow, and how does that feel?'" Anderson said. "Well, I just had to come in here and try to do the same things he does. I kind of learned from him last year. Hopefully, I can match him someday."

Muenchow used to do most of his damage through the air, but Anderson and the Panthers attacked DeLaSalle on the ground this time around.

Mitchell Nowak and Tyler Lang each added a pair of TD runs as Glencoe-Silver Lake ran for a Prep Bowl-record 415 yards. Aaron Lueders added 103 rushing yards for the Panthers (13-1), who earned their fifth Class 3A title.

Evan Williams rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns for DeLaSalle (13-1), including a 52-yard scoring run in the second quarter.

In a rematch of last year's championship, Glencoe-Silver Lake looked early on as though it could match last year's 56-20 final.

The Panthers scored on their first three possessions of the game, including a 4-yard TD run by Nowak after Glencoe-Silver Lake opened the game with an onside kick.

"If you've ever watched film of them, they can return the ball pretty good," Panthers coach Scott Tschimperle said. "We got a little lucky on the first kickoff that we got the ball. But, we weren't going to kick it deep. We didn't want to punt it to them."

The Islanders had come back from deficits of 14-0 and 21-7 to force a 21-21 tie at halftime.

But Lang's rushing outburst helped the Panthers score 21 unanswered points in the second half. Lang, a starting linebacker, hadn't seen much offensive action but he responded after an injury to the team's starting fullback.

He had a 30-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half and added a 24-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

"Our line opened up some big holes, and I just got to be the benefactor of it," Lang said. "I got to (carry the ball) a couple of games ago, but this was fun."

Glencoe-Silver Lake has played in six of the last nine Prep Bowls.

"It's just another game for us when we come down here," Tschimperle said. "Yes, it is exciting when you get to play in an atmosphere like this, but our kids don't get overwhelmed. They just come out here and play the game the way it should be played."