Class 6A football playoffs: Charlie Bern’s 4 TDs lift East Ridge to upset of Anoka

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Charlie Bern does a little bit of everything for the East Ridge High School football team.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Raptors senior lines up at tight end, running back and fullback on offense while playing both defensive end and linebacker on the other side of the ball.

“I sit on the sideline and (head) coach (Dan Fritze) just puts me in,” Bern said. “He tells me what to do at whatever position he wants me at. I’m kind of like a Swiss Army knife. I do whatever the team needs.”

What East Ridge needed most Friday was touchdowns, and Bern provided them in abundance, rushing for three scores (including a go-ahead 32-yard run with 7:47 to play) and catching another as the Raptors upset Anoka 35-28 on the road in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs at Goodrich Field.

“He came out last year as a junior for the first time in a long time,” Fritze said. “He’s a basketball player. He’s a great athlete, but he was so raw, we weren’t sure where to put him.

“He played outside linebacker, and midway through the season, we realized how good his offensive skills were. He started off at tight end, then we saw he was a powerful runner. So now he plays all over.”

East Ridge (3-6) advances to meet Minnetonka in the second round. The Skippers beat Eastview 37-6 in the first round Friday.

The Tornadoes finished their season 6-3 overall.

“I’m proud of these kids,” Anoka coach Bo Wasurick said of his team. “They battled their butts off tonight. They fought hard and never made excuses, even when things got frustrating at times.”

Bern’s first score of the night was a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:44 to go in the first half that tied the score 14-14 at halftime. But the game would continue to swing back-and-forth from there. The Tornadoes tried a fake punt on the opening drive of the second half and came up just short, giving East Ridge the ball at the Anoka 49. Five plays later, Bern scored again — this time from 3 yards out — to put the Raptors on top by 7.

“When they tried the fake punt and we got a huge stop, that got us all hyped and fired up,” Bern said. “It was a big boost.”

But the Tornadoes wasted no time again tying the score. A 30-yard run by junior Zach Welch and a 48-yard catch by classmate Trey Borchers set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Welch on the next possession.

Then, though, it was back to Bern, who scored on an 8-yard touchdown catch with 1:41 to play in the third quarter to put the Raptors back on top 28-21.

“I can’t say enough about (Bern),” said senior quarterback Tanner Zolnosky, who threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 75 yards. “He’s a once-in-a-generation type talent and we’re just blessed to have him on our team.”

Once again, though, Anoka held serve, tying the score at 28 with 10:53 remaining. Yet it was Bern who had the last laugh, scoring for the fourth time to put East Ridge on top to stay.

“The offensive line did a great job of blocking on that play,” Bern said. “I had a cramp midway through the run, but it still worked out.”

Anoka did get the ball back at the Raptors 46 after recovering a fumble with 6:07 remaining, but on the very next play, Zolnosky (playing defense for the first time since his freshman season because of injuries in the secondary) picked off a pass.

The Tornadoes again drove into East Ridge territory on their final possession, but turned the ball over on downs at the 32 with 1:28 to go.

“We’re underdogs and you get to hit the reset button when the playoffs start,” Bern said. “We all believe in ourselves and what this team can do. We showed that tonight.”

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High School Football Roundup: Woodbury’s Bjellos tallies six first-half touchdowns in first-round playoff win over Buffalo

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Woodbury 42, Buffalo 0: Royals quarterback George Bjellos had a career game – err, half – on Friday, throwing for five scores and rushing for another all in the first two quarters.

Two of those scoring strikes went to Isaiah Tisdle, while two others found Liam Frommelt.

The Royals (5-4) will host Rosemount next week after the Irish toppled Blaine 51-7 in the first round.

Forest Lake 31, Wayzata 7: Forest Lake (6-3) scored four rushing touchdowns – two by star back Leyton Patzer and two by quarterback Nolan Dumonceaux – to advance to the second round for the second time in as many seasons.

The Rangers will play at Lakeville North (8-1) next week after the Panthers downed Coon Rapids 28-12 on Friday.

Prior Lake 17, Mounds View 15: Hunter MacGillivray ran for 142 yards and a score as Prior Lake (5-4) won its first road playoff game since 2000.

Mounds View (4-5) held multiple leads in the contest, but wasn’t quite able to get over the finish line. The Lakers will next travel to meet top-seeded Centennial, who beat Burnsville 61-6 on Friday.

Lakeville South 56, Roseville 0: The top-seeded Cougars (9-1) made a major statement to open the postseason. Jonah Shine ran for two scores, Gaven Dean ran for one and threw for another. That touchdown pass went to Connor Cade, who also ran in a score.

Next week, the Cougars will host Shakopee, who bested Champlin Park 34-12 in Round 1.

Stillwater 56, Hopkins 6: Stillwater quarterback Nick Kinsey returned after missing the last game and a half to injury. Kinsey went 7 for 9 for 99 yards and two scores to help spark the Ponies (7-2) to a playoff-opening victory.

Stillwater’s defense held Hopkins to just 80 yards of total offense, while forcing three turnovers. Top-seeded Stillwater will duel Rochester Mayo next round, after the Spartans upset St. Michael-Albertville 28-21 on Friday.

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Ravens OLB Odafe Oweh, RB Keaton Mitchell questionable vs. Cardinals; Arizona QB Kyler Murray doubtful

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Despite being a full participant in practice this week for the first time since late last season and coming off the injury report altogether Thursday, it’s unlikely that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray will play against the Ravens on Sunday.

Though Murray, the 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowl selection, practiced fully for the first time since tearing his ACL last December, he was listed as doubtful in Friday’s injury report. Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said the quarterback is “fully healthy,” though reports have indicated the 26-year-old former No. 1 overall draft pick would be ramped up slowly, and Gannon said only “we’ll see,” when asked if he would play this week.

When Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked how he’ll handle the uncertainty of whether Murray would play, he replied similarly.

“We’ll see, that’s about all you can say,” he said. “We’ll be ready for whichever quarterback is playing.”

With Murray doubtful, Joshua Dobbs, who helped beat Baltimore as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2017, is expected to get the nod again. Dobbs has completed 62% (142-for-229) of his passes in seven games this season, throwing for 1,361 yards and six touchdowns with three interceptions.

Whichever quarterback Baltimore (5-2) faces, it comes into the game a relative model of health after dealing with a spate of injuries the first handful of games this season.

Safety Marcus Williams (hamstring) and outside linebacker Odafe Oweh (ankle) were the only players not to practice Friday in Owings Mills. Williams is out for Sunday, while Oweh is questionable, as are running back Keaton Mitchell (hamstring) and wide receiver Tylan Wallace (hamstring), though both fully practiced Friday.

“He’s not going to be out for any period of time,” Harbaugh said of Oweh, who was limited Thursday. “We’ll see if he plays on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (shoulder) fully practiced Friday, as did cornerback Kevon Seymour (ankle) and inside linebacker Roquan Smith (shoulder). None of the three have an injury designation for the game.

For the Cardinals (1-6), defensive end Kevin Strong (shoulder), guard Elijah Wilkinson (neck) and linebacker Krys Barnes (hamstring) did not practice Friday and are all out. Wide receiver Greg Dortch (ankle) was added to the injury report after not practicing Friday and is questionable, along with safety Jalen Thompson (hamstring) and cornerback Antonio Hamilton (groin). Offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum (hand) and receiver Zach Pascal (neck) fully practiced and came off the injury report.

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Women’s hockey: St. Thomas hangs with No. 1 Wisconsin before falling 5-3

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Wisconsin came into Friday night’s game at St. Thomas Ice Arena as the No. 1 team in women’s college hockey and left with a 5-3 victory. But the Tommies might have gained something valuable, too — a sense that their program is starting to turn the corner.

After being swept by No. 2 Ohio State and the Gophers the past two weeks, including one-sided losses in the two series openers, Friday night’s competitive showing against the Badgers was an impressive performance by the home team.

“This is a different space for us,” St. Thomas coach Joel Johnson said. “I will be curious to see how our team shows up tomorrow night. I just got done sharing with them, we kind of did what we wanted to do, we just got outplayed.”

While the Tommies are not celebrating after falling to 0-5 in the WCHA, there is something to be said for coming out of a game against the nation’s best and feeling like you belong.

“I would say we played our best,” said St. Thomas defenseman Nicole Vallario, who scored the Tommies’ first goal. “We maybe deserved a little bit more, but that’s the way it goes in hockey sometimes. We’ll learn from what happened today and be better tomorrow.”

Vallario said the Tommies entered Friday’s game with a little more confidence than they had had in recent weeks.

“We’ve been working on a lot of things, and I think we’ve gotten better as a team,” she said. “I think we’re growing really well and playing together.”

While the Badgers have a clear advantage over the Tommies in the skill department, the difference in the game proved to be special teams, with Wisconsin scoring three power play goals.

“Part of the message is that we have to stay out of the box,” Johnson said. “If we’re going to win, we can’t give them a chance to score on the power play with their skill.”

A pair of first-period goals by Wisconsin’s Kirsten Simms — giving her 12 in 10 games — gave the Badgers the early lead. The complexion of the game then changed drastically due to a late scoring spurt by the Tommies.

The teams were playing four on four late in the period when Tommies center Ella Boerger found Vallario with a pass on the back door, and Vallario buried it or her third goal of the season. There were only nine seconds to play in the period when Ellah Hause batted a rebound out of the air and into the net to tie the game 2-2.

“Let’s be honest, they’re the No. 1 team in the country and we’re not,” Johnson said. “For us to score, it’s a big deal. It was a fun locker room  (after the first period), not because we’re going to upset the world, but because our players were like, ‘OK, we can play.’ So I was really excited.”

After the Badgers took a 3-2 lead at 8:05 on a power play goal, the Tommies needed only 31 seconds to pull even again. Abby Promersberger scored her fourth of the season on the wrist shot from between the circles.

The Tommies had a great opportunity to take the lead less than a minute later when Wisconsin’s Lacey Eden received a major penalty for boarding. But the Tommies’ advantage lasted only 42 seconds before Cara Sajevic was sent off for holding.

It then appeared that the Tommies would be down two skaters when Haley Maxwell took a slashing penalty when Simms moved in on a partial breakaway, but the Badgers opted for a penalty shot instead.

Simms hit the post on her attempt, and the game remained tied.

The Badgers went on a five-minute power play of their own with just over five minutes to play in the second period when Brieja Parent was sent off for boarding. There were 30 seconds away from killing off the penalty when Anna Wilgren scored to give the Badgers a 4-3 lead.

Wisconsin added its third power play goal of the game at 8:17 of the third period, with Britta Curl beating St. Thomas goaltender Maggie Malecha on a rebound. But the Tommies kept pushing, and Badgers goaltender Jane Gervais made a pair of key stops with seven minutes to play to keep the Tommies from cutting their deficit to one.

The Tommies pulled their goaltender with two minutes to play and created scoring opportunities to the game’s end.

“I really felt that was my proudest moment,” Johnson said. “A different moment that we’ve seen in the past. We were desperate in a way that felt like we belonged in the game. That’s a huge step for us, especially against a quality opponent like Wisconsin.”

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