In sudden bursts, Triton turned 2006 into the year of the Cobra

50 years in the making: The team set a record with 70 points, never waiting long for a touchdown.

By Ron Haggstrom Star Tribune

October 28, 2022 — 11:50pm

The Star Tribune is celebrating 50 years of high school football state tournaments one day at a time for 50 days.

Year: 2006

"I felt that the top two teams in the state were playing." — Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant on his team's 21-14 victory over Lakeville South in the Class 5A championship game

Cobras strike hard and fast. Triton lived up to its nickname.

The Dodge Center school scored on possessions of one, two, three and five plays and one special-teams play — Caleb Rissman's 62-yard punt return — in the opening quarter to build a 35-point lead en route to a record-setting 70-21 victory over Luverne for the Class 2A championship. Two of the possessions lasted eight seconds, the longest 1 minute, 47 seconds.

The 70 points established a championship game record. Rissman had four touchdowns — two rushing, one receiving and the punt return — all in the first half, when Triton built a 47-7 lead.

"Our kids were a little nervous, but I think it was Triton's execution and personnel that had a lot more to do with what happened," Luverne coach Todd Oye told the Rock County Star Herald. "Triton is a powerful team, and we made some mistakes early and they were able to take advantage of them. Add those two factors together, and you get that type of a result."

In other finals:

Eden Prairie captured its fifth state title in 11 years, capping an undefeated season with a 21-14 victory over Lakeville South in Class 5A.

"It was like two big heavyweights out there, slugging it out," Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant said. "They're a great team."

Glencoe-Silver Lake trailed by two touchdowns before coming back and then pulling away from defending state champion Becker 42-20 in Class 3A. On the last play of the first half, Panthers linebacker Chip Maresh returned an interception 55 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

"We're down 14-nothing and it looks like we fell off the bread truck, didn't it? We didn't know where we were at," Glencoe-Silver Lake coach Dave Dose said. "But our kids kept their poise and we wore them down in the second half."

Stephen-Argyle won its fourth state title in a row and its 54th game in a row with a 42-15 triumph over Wheaton. Storm senior running back Blake Sczepanski rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries to finish his career with 4,627 rushing yards.