Wayzata shows off counter moves in 6A football quarterfinals

Anything good Eastview could do, Wayzata immediately did better.

The Trojans overcame giving up a touchdown on the first play of scrimmage and another late in the game to top Eastview 35-21 in the Class 6A state football quarterfinals Friday at Mall of America Field.

Eastview linebacker Jacob Bechstein intercepted Wayzata quarterback Nick Olmanson on the first play of scrimmage and trotted into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

"It's hard to overcome that," Wayzata senior running back Jeff Borchardt said about the shocking start. "But we didn't look at that as the end. We had a whole game ahead of us."

To be precise, the Trojans had 47 minutes, 49 seconds to make up for the blunder. It only took 11 seconds.

Borchardt took the ensuing kickoff by Sam Fluegge and ran it back 97 yards for a touchdown.

"I was just shocked. I couldn't believe it," Bechstein said. "It was tough. Those big plays hurt us."

Eastview was much improved from the last time the teams met in early September. It scored more points against the Wayzata defense than any other opponent when Will Rains scored his second touchdown to make it 28-21 midway through the fourth quarter.

But again, Wayzata did better.

Forty-nine seconds later, Borchardt scored on a 69-yard touchdown run, his third of the night. He finished with more than 250 all-purpose yards, 176 rushing. Rains led Eastview with 89 rushing yards.

"They scored first, so we needed to retaliate," Wayzata senior Chris Pierson said of the Trojans' rapid response all night. He played a role in a blocked punt by Will Long, just minutes after their first touchdown, that set up Wayzata's go-ahead touchdown.

"That was a big momentum change," Pierson said. "The offense came up clutch and cashed it in for points."

In the second half, a pair of possessions, one for each team, took up nine minutes of the third quarter. Neither team scored before the final two touchdowns within 49 seconds of one another in the fourth quarter.

"We definitely didn't let up," Borchardt said. "But there were too many big plays."