PREP FOOTBALL: Flying Dutchmen advance to state finals with win over Ada-Borup

MINNEAPOLIS — Edgerton/Ellsworth quarterback Isaac Heard knew since the beginning of the season the Flying Dutchmen were good enough to win a state championship.

“It was at the beginning of the year,” Heard said when asked at what point the Flying Dutchmen knew they were good. “Last year we made the state quarterfinals and we were a little upset the way we lost — obviously, losing in overtime — and we didn’t want to let it happen again.

“We started in April.”

What started in April for E/E will now end with the Flying Dutchmen playing the last game of the Class 9-man football season: The state title game.

It was all E/E Friday morning, as the Flying Dutchmen knocked off Ada-Borup 48-20 in the Class 9-man state semifinals at the Metrodome. The Flying Dutchmen (13-0) will play Friday at 10 a.m. back at the Metrodome.

E/E will play the winner of today’s semifinal game featuring Wheaton/Herman-Norcross and Kittson County Central.

“We talked about coming out fired up, but we could tell by looking in their eyes, we didn’t have to worry about it,” E/E coach Andrew Fleischman said. “Our goal at the start is to have great experiences, meaningful memories and they’re getting it.

“No matter what happens, this has been a great run. We’re going to show up (next week) and give it everything we got and let the chips fall where they may.”

What a difference a week made for Heard. After going 5-for-15 for 81 yards, two interceptions and a fumble in the first half of the quarterfinal game versus Nicollet, Heard was 14-for-15 passing for 235 yards and two touchdowns in the first half against Ada-Borup.

“It seemed like every time there was a jump ball, one of their kids came down with it,” A-B coach Nathan Brager said. “There’s not much you can do as a defense when teams do that.

“It was very tough to stop.”

Heard (17 for 19, 292 yards, 2 TDs) completed his first 12 passes. If not for a dropped pass, one incompletion and a fumble on an option play, Heard would have been perfect on the day. Heard didn’t seem to mind his few imperfections, considering E/E stayed perfect on the season.

“It feels pretty awesome,” Heard said. “It helps having Casey Schilling being 6’6” to go up and fight for balls.

“I give all the credit to my line and my receivers. When I’m standing there, having six or seven seconds, and they’re still running their routes, it’s not that hard.”

E/E had five drives in the first half and scored on four of them. After an Ada-Borup fumble on the team’s first possession, the Flying Dutchmen opened up the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run by Devin Hulstein (15 carries, 105 yards, 2 TDs, 4 catches, 87 yards, TD) just under four minutes into the game. Austin LaFollete punched in the 2-point conversion and it was 8-0 Flying Dutchmen.

Heard found Schilling (10 catches, 171 yards, TD) for a 22-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the second quarter for E/E’s second trip to the end zone. Heard ran in the 2-point conversion, pushing the lead to 16-0.

“(Heard) played amazing,” Schilling said. “We’ve been talking all year that this could be our year.

“We want to go out on a good note.”

Three minutes later, E/E would strike again. After Heard found Schilling for a 40-yard pass, Derek Voge (12 carries, 35 yards, 2 TDs) punched it in from two yards out. Voge added the 2-point conversion to make the score 24-0 E/E.

Ada-Borup (11-2) got on the board with 3:23 remaining in the first half when Ian Halle (14 carries, 66 yards, TD) punched it in from one yard out. The Cougars failed on the 2-point conversion and the score remained 24-6.

E/E would answer two minutes later when Heard found Hulstein for a 41-yard touchdown pass, capping a seven-play, 61-yard drive. Voge added the 2-point conversion to make it 32-6 Flying Dutchmen heading into halftime.

Less than four minutes into the second half, E/E made it 40-12 thanks to a 15-yard touchdown run for Hulstein and a 2-point conversion pass from Heard to Johnny Menning.

Jace Hennen (12 for 30, 238 yards, TD) found Lance Ruebke (4 catches, 132 yards, TD) for a 57-yard touchdown pass with less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter to make it 40-12.

As was the pattern of the day, E/E would answer less than four minutes later when Voge dove into the end zone from three yards out and Blake Jouwstra notched the 2-point conversion on a run to give E/E a 48-12 lead.

Mitch Lee connected with JD Kappes for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 2:23 remaining in the game for Ada-Borup. Jack Brainard added 2-points on a pass to Kappes to cap the scoring.

“I got to give a lot of credit to Edgerton/Ellsworth,” Brager said. “It started with them being the better team, but on top of it, we felt like we didn’t have our best performance of the year.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes.”

A-B 0 6 6 8 — 20

E/E 8 24 16 0 — 48

Tags: edgerton ellsworth, sports, prep, football