Faribault Football Dominates Northfield to Retain Cannon Trophy

The Faribault Falcons scored all but one time they had the football in the first half en route to a 36-7 win over the Northfield Raiders at Bruce Smith Field in Faribault.

The halftime score was 36-0 with the Falcons dominating on both sides of the football.

This game was a far cry from last year's overtime Faribault win that had fans from both teams biting their fingernails.

The Falcons won the toss and received to start the game. During that opening drive they were moving the ball exclusively on the ground and had a 4th down and 2 yards to go around midfield.

Senior Matthias Lenway got a healthy gain but the wet ball was fumbled, Northfield recovered and took over at the 40 yard line. They got the ball to midfield before being stopped on a 4th down and two yards to go.

The Falcons started at their 49 yard line and finished the drive with a 41 yard touchdown run by Lenway who also ran in the two point conversion with 6:31 to go in the opening quarter.

The Raiders started their next drive at their 27 yard line when Faribault senior Isaac Mata intercepted a pass and the Falcons started at the Northfield 27 yard line.

Senior Falcons quarterback Hunter Nelson capped off that drive by scoring on a five yard keeper with 3:21 to go in the first quarter. Nelson hit Ehlers in the back of the end zone for the two point conversion.

Northfield was stymied again by the Falcons defense. Faribault had a holding call after starting their next drive at the 25 yard line marching the ball back to their 15. Nelson stepped back and fired a perfect pass to Lenway wheeling out of the backfield and flying up the field. It looked like the senior running back was going to be brought down but he stiff armed the final attempted tackler and scored on the 85 yard pass play.

With 11:45 to go until halftime the two point pass was no good but Faribault was ahead 22-0.

Northfield senior Tate Journell had a nice kickoff return to the 50 yard line but the Falcons again did not allow the Raiders to enter the end zone.

On Faribault's next drive Nelson hit Ian Ehlers for a 60 yard touchdown with 6:16 to go in the half. Nelson ran in the two point conversion to make the score 30-0.

Northfield started their next drive at their 32 yard line. That drive ended with Isaac Mata picking off his second pass of the evening with 1:20 to go in the half.

:13 remained in the half when Nelson threw another perfect dart to Jordan Klecker for a 27 yard score. A two point pass attempt fell incomplete.

On senior night, senior Jordan Klecker ended the half with another interception.

The halftime score was 36-0.

The first half statistics were as dominate as the score.

Faribault rolled up 329 total yards to Northfield's 131. The Falcons had 221 yards through the air compared to the Raiders 119. The rushing yards favored the home team 108 to 12.

Nelson was 4 of 7 with 3 of the 4 completions going for touchdowns.

Northfield junior quarterback Soren Richardson completed 13 of 20 throws for 119 yards.

Lenway led Faribault rushers with 89 yards on 12 attempts. Nelson ran 8 times for 34 yards. Senior Elijah Hammonds rushed for 34 yards on 8 carries.

The Raiders lone score came with 6:41 to go in the game when Richardson hit junior tight end Dom Dimaggio on a 22 yard TD pass. The extra point kick by senior Pablo Gallardo was good.

Northfield ran the football more effectively in the second half finishing the game with 119 yards on the ground led by junior Charles Monaghan with 14 carries for 91 yards.

Richardson finished the game 14 of 21 passing for 141 yards.

Nelson threw 9 times with 5 completions for 277 yards and three scores. Five different receivers caught the football. Lenway, Ehlers, Mata, AJ Worrell and Klecker.

Junior Johnny Frank led the Falcons defense with 9 solo tackles. Junior George Soto added 6.5 tackles, Seniors AJ Worrell, Devin Lockerby each had 4.5 along with junior Ian Ehlers.

Tim Neirby had the lone sack of the evening for Faribault.

Leading the Raiders defense were junior Gabriel Sawyer and senior Zachariah Edwards with 4.5 tackles each.

Faribault finished their regular season 5-3 with all their losses to state ranked teams. Stewartville (35-26), Kasson-Mantorville (42-41) and Mankato East (28-21) all on the road. They will more than likely have a home game in Section 2 Class 4A with the opponent more than likely Jordan or Marshall Tuesday.

The coaches vote in that Section. Jordan is 5-3, Marshall 4-4.

Northfield finished their season 3-5 but will probably still have a home game Tuesday in the Section 1 Class 5A playoffs. The Section also has coaches vote. It looks like they will host Rochester Century.

The brackets should all be revealed Thursday.

Other football scores from Wednesday night in the area: