Chanhassen football rallies in fourth quarter to defeat Mankato West
CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA — The No. 2 Chanhassen Storm (10-0) defeated the No. 5 Mankato West Scarlets (8-2) 37-36 in the Section 2, Class 5A championship game Friday at Chanhassen High School.
It's the first time the Storm have reached the state tournament.
"To be honest, I didn’t think either team would score that many points," Chanhassen head coach Cullen Nelson said. "I knew it would be a fist fight. Thankfully we just made one more play than they did."
Down six with six minutes remaining, the Storm drove 90 yards for a touchdown to take the lead with 30 seconds remaining. Mankato West's Hail Mary attempt was knocked down.
90-yard drive to win
Chanhassen needed to drive 90 yards to tie the game with a touchdown, so they leaned on senior running back Maxwell Woods.
His first run went for 17 yards, and he followed with runs of 2, 11, 10, 12, 8 and 4. But the Storm offense stagnated as it approached the red zone.
Negative plays forced the Storm backwards, and on third and long just outside their red zone, quarterback Brayden Windschitl heaved a ball toward receiver Daxton Bush, who corralled a bobbled catch and fell at the 3-yard line.
“I knew [Woods] could do his job, so I just had to do my job,” Windschitl said. “I knew he was going to get yards so I had to get some yards.”
The Storm punched in the touchdown with a run from lineman Dominc Castagnetto, and the PAT was good, and the Storm had the lead with 30 second left.
Offense comes alive
Chanhassen defeated Mankato West 21-14 earlier in the season. In the first half tonight, Mankato West led 14-6.
But in the second half tonight, these teams combined for 53 points. Both offenses began to run the ball in the second half after they struggled in the first half.
“They like to do double players who play both offense and defense,” Chanhassen senior Tyler Smith said. “I think by the end of the fourth quarter, it wears their defensive line down and that gives the opportunity to [Woods] and myself to go out there and make plays.”
Mankato West also reeled off big plays. Quarterback Bart McAninch had a 26 and a 47-yard touchdown run in the second half. McAninch finished with five total touchdown. He ran for three and threw for two.
First timers
Chanhassen reached its first state tournament in school history. Last season, the Storm fell by two points to Mankato West in the section title game.
“Last year, we were two points short,” Woods said. “That was 364 days ago. We’ve had all this time to think about it, regroup, and now we came back and had a hell of a game.”
Three hundred and sixty four days ago, Cullen knew it could be done.
“The day our season ended last year, I knew this was going to be a special group if they worked hard and put in the time they were supposed to that there was enough talent there,” Cullen said. “They’ve met every expectation at every turn.”
-- Jack Butler | butler@scorebooklive.com | @sblivemn
