Mounds View 21, White Bear 14

It was nothing fancy, and fancy was not expected. When Mounds View and White Bear Lake square off, power football is the rule. And so it was Friday in the Class 5A, Section 2 championship game.

The two rivals took turns running the ball down the other team's throat. In the end, an unlikely play call made the difference.

The Mustangs, thanks in large part to a decision by the Bears to attempt a pass -- two, in fact -- held on to win 21-14.

"We knew how they played," Mounds View coach Jim Galvin said. "They're a physical team, and they're well-coached. They come right at you."

The game began as anticipated, with the defenses dominating a scoreless first quarter.

Mounds View broke the deadlock early in the second quarter when quarterback Mitch Baran sneaked across from the 2, giving the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.

The game turned on White Bear Lake's next possession. The Bears had been having moderate success running the veer offense between the tackles. But an attempt to open things up backfired. Back-to-back passing attempts ended in sacks, a run resulted in another loss and the Bears were forced to punt on fourth-and-31. Mounds View put on a strong rush and Mustangs linebacker Jack Brundell smothered the kick, then picked it up on a bounce and raced 22 yards into the end zone, giving Mounds View a 14-0 lead it took into the locker room at halftime.

"The middle just opened up for me," Brundell said. "The ball took a crazy bounce right up and I just grabbed it and ran."

The Bears went 75 yards on 17 plays on their first drive of the half, cutting the lead to 14-7 on a 2-yard run by quarterback Nate Parenteau.

"It's frustrating to try to stop them," Brundell said. "I don't know how they do it, but they get 3 or 4 yards on every play."

The Mustangs answered with a long scoring drive of their own, going 80 yards in 14 plays and regaining their two-touchdown advantage on an 8-yard run by Langdon Bengston.

White Bear Lake drove down on its ensuing possession and again cut the lead to seven on a 2-yard run by Josh Hauswirth. But by the time White Bear Lake scored, there was only 4:36 left in the fourth quarter.

"It was a strange game," Galvin said. "I've never been in a game with so few possessions. Every one of them was big. I was worried down to the last play."

Jim Paulsen • jpaulsen@startribune.com