Class 5A semifinal: Old-school game plan suits Elk River to a T in win over Apple Valley

Apple Valley had 509 yards of offense. The Eagles didn't punt once. They scored 40 points.

And still they lost.

Elk River's confounding straight-T offense, with its fakes and deceptive movement, claimed another victim Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Elks rolled up 700 yards of offense, all of them on the ground, to outscore Apple Valley 51-40 and advance to the Class 5A championship game for the second consecutive year.

Elk River punted on its first possession of the game, then put points on the board seven of the next eight times it had the ball. All six of Elk River's touchdown drives went 80 or more yards.

"We knew it was going to be a situation where we'd have to find a way to get a couple stops along the way," Apple Valley coach Chad Clendening said. "We didn't make quite enough plays."

While certainly old-school in design, Elk River's running attack is far from the boring. The Elks are explosive; five of their touchdown runs covered more than 20 yards. Adam Nelson alone scored on sprints of 32, 39 and 80 yards, finishing with 302 yards on just 18 carries.

"I don't want to jinx us, but we haven't lost on [artificial] turf since 2013," said Elk River coach Steve Hamilton, whose team has natural grass at its home stadium. "We feel pretty good that if we get solid footing, we can move people and do some good things."