Junior quarterback John Kalthoff threw for four touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Annandale Cardinals past Dassel-Cokato 49-27 in the regular season finale for both teams on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The victory was the Cardinals third in their last four games and lifted them to 3-5 on the season as they head into the Section 6-3A playoffs this week. Annandale, the number seven seed, traveled to New London-Spicer to take on the 6-2 Wildcats in first-round action on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
NL-S is the number three seed in the section and finished the regular season as runners-up in the West Central Conference after a 48-46 win over Albany last week.
"I’m really happy with the way we’re playing right now," said Annandale head coach Matt Walter. "We wanted to finish the regular season strong and gain some momentum going into sectionals.
"When you look at our losses, we should have a much better record and be a much higher seed, but it’s playoff time, and that means it’s a whole new season. We’ve got a tough test right off the bat with New London-Spicer."
Indeed, the Cardinals are arguably the best 3-5 team in the state. Two of their losses came in overtime, another was by just one point and a fourth resulted from a touchdown in the final minute of play. Their fifth loss, by seven points, could have easily gone into overtime as Annandale was inside the 10-yard-line with under a minute to play but could not punch the ball into the end zone.
"Frankly, I’m tired of hearing we’re the best 3-5 team out there, but realistically, it’s probably true," said Walter. "Our goal now is to be the best 3-5 team to win a state title."
Fast start to rout
Annandale got off to a fast start against Dassel-Cokato and never looked back, controlling the contest 14-0 after one quarter and 28-7 by halftime.
A muffed punt return by the Chargers set up the Cardinals first touchdown early in the first stanza. Cole Gauldin fell on the loose ball at the D-C 45 yard line and two plays later Kalthoff found a wide open Brett Ahsenmacher behind the Charger coverage with a 35-yard scoring strike. Zach Schlicht booted the PAT.
Annandale scored again less than 30 seconds later after Brett Fobbe picked off a Charger pass and returned it to the four-yard-line. On the next play Cooper Gauldin bulled his way into the end zone. Schlicht’s extra-point kick put the Cardinals on top 14-0 with 5:09 left in the first quarter.
After forcing D-C to go three-and-out on its next possession, Annandale started at its own 47. After a pair of rushing first downs, Kalthoff hit Ahsenmacher with a pass over the middle, moving the ball to the Charger 15. Another pass, this one to Dylan "All Day" Nelson, set the Cardinals up with first-and-goal at the five.
Annandale added its third touchdown on the first play of the second quarter when Kalthoff fired a bullet to Nelson in the end zone on a slant pattern over the middle. Schlicht’s PAT kick made it 21-0.
Schlicht also had a hand in setting up the Cardinals next TD. Dassel-Cokato next possession saw the Chargers drive to the Annandale 31, but a huge hit by a swarm of Cardinal defenders caused running back Jordan Irvin to fumble and Schlicht fell on the loose ball.
Annandale needed just four plays to hit paydirt after the recovery, as Kalthoff passed to Ahsenmacher for a 32-yard gain and a pass interference call against the Chargers put the Cardinals in the red zone. Another pass to Ahsenmacher got Annandale to the five before Kalthoff scrambled out of the pocket and dove in for a touchdown with 4:14 remaining in the half. Schlicht’s point-after kick put his team in control 28-0.
D-C finally saw some offensive spark late in the first half. After returning the ensuing kickoff to the 46, speedy running back Tyler Boltz broke free for a long gain to the Cardinal 12.
The Chargers kept the ball on the ground and capped the drive with a one-yard scoring run by Irvin to end the first half.
Big plays for big lead
Big plays allowed Annandale to extend its lead over the Chargers in the second half.
On the second play of the Cardinals second possession of the half, Kalthoff again found his favorite receiver Ahsenmacher on an out pattern. The steady junior pulled in the pass, shed two tacklers and bobbled the ball over his head before regaining control and outrunning defenders 65 yards for his second TD of the night, this one coming at the 7:33 mark of the quarter. Schlicht’s PAT put Annandale out front 35-7.
D-C trimmed the deficit on its next possession, sparked by two long runs by Boltz and a pass interference call against the Cardinals. Boltz capped a 65-yard scoring drive with a four-yard plunge to make it 35-14.
Nelson and the Cardinals responded on the ensuing kickoff. Nelson took the kick at the 35 and appeared to be stood up and stopped by two Charger tacklers at the 42, but he shed one opponent and spun away from the other before picking up downfield blocks and taking the kickoff 65 yards to the house, putting Annandale up 42-14.
The Cardinals added to their lead on their next possession with Kalthoff passing to junior wide receiver Victor Musech, who found himself all alone behind broken coverage. Musech pulled in the pass and carried it the distance for a 70-yard TD. Another Schlicht point-after kick extended the Cardinal lead to 49-14 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Walter went to his bench in the final quarter, resting his starters and giving younger players some much needed on-field experience during the final 12 minutes.
The Chargers were able to score twice in the final frame. Isaac Nelson dove in for a five-yard TD midway through the quarter and Malcolm Cooper scored on a 10-yard run in the final minute of play to close out the scoring.
Game stats
Annandale and Dassel-Cokato put up relatively even numbers offensively in the contest. The Cardinals finished with 377 yards of offense compared to 333 by the Chargers, 305 of which were rushing yards.
Kalthoff completed 12-of-20 pass attempts for an impressive 284 yards and four TDs. Ahsenmacher was on the receiving end of five passes for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Musech caught just one pass, but it went for 70 yards and a TD. Cooper Gauldin had two receptions for 30 yards and Dylan Nelson added three catches for 18 yards and a score.
Annandale’s rushing attack was led by Matt Miller and Nick Anderson, who each had 23 yards. Andrew Russek added 19 yards on eight carries while Cooper Gauldin had 15 yards, also on eight touches.
Defensively, Connor Froehlich turned in another strong performance with 10 tackles and a quarterback sack. Patrick Schwanke added eight stops and Teddy Erickson charted seven tackles and a sack.
Tyler Boltz led the Dassel-Cokato offense with 139 rushing yards while Jordan Irvin finished with 75.
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