Mounds View perseveres

Expectations met reality Friday as Cretin-Derham Hall hosted Mounds View in what was billed as a clash of Suburban East Conference titans.

But what many hoped would be the game of the year on the east side of the Mississippi River turned into a morass of mistakes, penalties and missed opportunities.

Mounds View made fewer errors and eked out a 17-16 victory.

It was Mounds View's first regular-season victory over Cretin-Derham Hall since joining the Suburban East. The Mustangs' only other victory over the Raiders was in the 2010 Class 5A quarterfinals.

"We did our best to screw things up -- even us coaches," Mounds View coach Jim Galvin said. "But our kids just kept battling and we pulled it out."

For the first half, each team appeared remarkably generous. A bad snap on a punt by Cretin-Derham Hall on its first possession led to a safety and a 2-0 Mounds View advantage.

Two possessions later, Cretin-Derham Hall's James Onwualu burst up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown run. It capped a 63-yard drive, kept alive by a 12-yard run by Blake Banham on third-and-11.

Cretin-Derham Hall looked poised to regain the lead midway through the second quarter, advancing to the Mounds View 9. But the Raiders, beset by penalties, settled for a 31-yard field goal and a 10-10 tie.

Mounds View was poised to take a halftime lead, but a 27-yard field goal attempt by Alec Tolson with 21 seconds left was blocked.

In the second half, Mounds View scored on a picture-perfect 61-yard pass from Fredrickson to Max Knutson on its third play from scrimmage for a 17-10 lead.

"Our daubers were down, especially after missing that field goal, but getting that touchdown was a real shot in the arm for our guys," Galvin said.

Cretin-Derham Hall operated in fits and spurts for most of the game, largely because of Mounds View's defensive front. The Raiders pulled within 17-16 on Onwualu's second scoring run of the game, a 19-yarder with 4:30 left in the game.