TROJAN FOOTBALL: Trojans host undefeated Cardinals

WORTHINGTON — With their 15-13 win against Canby, the Worthington Trojans are now winners of two football games in a row and coach Brad Grimmius couldn’t be happier with his team.

“Any time you win, your emotions are high and you are feeling really good,” Grimmius said. “The kids are practicing really hard this week, but it is going to be tough going up against Luverne.”

Coming off their second road win in a row, the Trojans will face one of their toughest challenges of the season when they host the undefeated Luverne Cardinals Friday at Trojan Field.

“They bring everything,” Grimmius said. “They have receivers that can catch, they rotate quarterbacks and they are a power team. You have to defend everything in the house, so there isn’t one area you can key on like we did last week with Canby’s running game.”

Luverne has scored 27 or more points in all five of its games this season, so if Worthington wishes to pull off an upset it will need to slow down the Cardinal’s potent offensive attack.

“We have to play fundamental football on both sides, offensively and defensively and then on special teams,” Grimmius said. “For us to pull off an upset, we have to play a great game.”

One thing the Trojans lacked last week was the ability to complete drives when their special teams gave them good field position throughout the game.

“We have to capitalize when we get the chances on offense,” Grimmius said. “Marcus Potter did a fantastic job for us last week on the punt return. We started with the ball inside the 50 four times and we only got one touchdown. We have to do better than that.”

If Worthington can repeat its successes in the return game, the offense will need to prolong drive to keep the ball out of the hands of Luverne’s offense.

“We have to put big drives together against teams like this,” Grimmius said. “Our best defense will be our offense on the field. If we can rattle off plays and get first downs, that will keep them off the field.”

Another thing the Trojans coaching staff was pleased with in their win over Canby was the team’s never-say-die attitude.

“The kids never gave up last week,” Grimmius said. “Our backs were against the wall and Canby elects to run a fake punt. We got the stop and were able to cut the field in half. Then our guys put a final drive together.”

Despite their recent winning streak, Grimmius has told his team to not get carried away and keep focused on the game in front of them.

“I’ve told them that we have a long ways to go, even though we have won two games,” Grimmius said. “We played well against Canby last week, but now we have to get that level of play out of our games in the Southwest Conference.”

If the Trojans are going to upset the undefeated Cardinals, they need to not only execute properly in all phases of the game, but they will also have to keep loose.

“We have to play loose, have fun, play for four quarters and execute,” Grimmius said. “We also have to capitalize on mistakes. That is how upsets are pulled off. You have to capitalize on what the other team gives you, and you have to play the whole game. It is going to take a lot to do that, but it is high school athletics, so anything is possible.”

Worthington looks for its first win at home this season when the Cardinals of Luverne travel to Trojan Field Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Daily Globe Reporter Jordan Willi

may be reached at 376-7335.

Tags: sports, prep, football, trojans, luverne