Lakeville North keeps Stillwater under control, wins high school football opener

Intense thunderstorms delayed some metro-area football kickoffs Thursday.

Stillwater traveled to Lakeville North, where the 8:30 p.m. start meant missing most of the inclement weather. From there, two of the metro’s top quarterbacks, junior Nick Kinsey of Stillwater and senior Riley Grossman of Lakeville North, fell a bit short of their matchup potential.

Lakeville North controlled much of the action in a 27-7 victory.

Kinsey holds high Division I offers from such schools as Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Miami (Fla.), while Grossman, a lefthander, is committed to Minnesota Duluth.

”It was about winning the game,” Grossman said. “But I think he’s a heck of a quarterback, and it was good competing against him.”

Grossman got the better of play in a soggy first half, throwing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Lane Johnson. Meanwhile, Kinsey went 2-for-11 for 9 yards. The Ponies struggled to find any offensive equilibrium. They went three-and-out on five of six possessions in the first half and logged 20 yards of offense.

Grossman stirred teammates with his running effort. The statistics say four carries for 12 yards. That won him fans.

”That was the biggest reaction I got out of Coach Vossen,” Grossman said.

”He lifts and works out as much as anyone,” Vossen said. “He’s strong; he’s tough. I trust him. We have to run the ball more this year to be successful, so the more of those he does, the better.”

Emilio Rosario Matias got loose with force for a 52-yard touchdown dash. And just like that, the Ponies had entered the chat with momentum, trailing 14-7.

North’s Sam Ripplinger added his second touchdown of the game with 2:54 to play in regulation; he carried 31 times for 173 yards. His defense posted a fumble recovery for a score six seconds later.

Stillwater got no closer on the scoreboard but came away with lessons on where to improve going forward. Coach Beau LaBore blamed first-week mistakes.

”We did a great job of beating ourselves in those first two quarters,” LaBore said. “We played them well physically, but we dug ourselves a huge hole. They capitalized on all our mistakes.”