The Minnewaska Area Lakers survived a scare with about one minute left in its game at Rockford, Friday, stopping the Rockets on a two-point pass play after a touchdown to give the Lakers a 21-19 victory

Rockford tried an onside kick after the last score, but the ball went out of bounds and the Lakers took over, running two plays to empty the clock.

The Lakers scored their three touchdowns on a 9-yard pass from Levi Johnson to Kaiden Harvey, a five-yard run by Miles Wildman and a 39-yard run by Asante Adams.  Zach Gugisberg was also 3-for-3 on extra-point boots.

Minnewaska Area, which had won three games in the last three seasons combined, is now 3-2 this fall and has a great chance to either host a first-round playoff game or receive a first-round bye.

“It was a great game and the guys really stepped up in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win,” coach Jared Lyle said.  “We held them to just 218 yards and forced four turnovers.  Our defense has been very solid all season and our offense is capable of scoring a lot of points.

“Overall, it’s been a great start to our season and I’m happy for the team.”

Albany leads the sub-district with a 4-0 record while Pierz and Minnewaska Area are tied for second with 3-1 records and Howard Lake-WW and Sauk Centre are tied for fourth with 2-2 marks.

In the section standings, the Lakers are currently in second behind Albany with NLS (2-3) third, Sauk Centre (2-3) fourth, Melrose (1-4) fifth and Montevideo (0-6) sixth.

This week, the Lakers are set to play at winless Montevideo at 7 p.m., Friday before getting ready to host Albany for a game at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 11.

Waska 21, Rockford 19

The Lakers led 14-0 after one quarter and then held on for a 21-19 victory, Friday night at Rockford.  Kaiden Harvey opened up the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Levi Johnson and Miles Wildman added another first-quarter score on a 5-yard run.  Zach Gugisberg kicked both extra-points.

Minnewaska Area held a 265-218 advantage in total yards and forced Rockford into four turnovers, including three interceptions.

After scoring their first two touchdowns, the Lakers fumbled the ball away in the end zone and it was recovered by Rockford for its first score.

Rockford scored again early in the fourth quarter to cut the Waska lead to 14-13, but the Lakers came right back with their third score of the game with about four minutes left in the game on a 39-yard touchdown run by Asante Adams and another Gugisberg boot.

Rockford, which featured a great passing game, going 13-for-25 for 169 yards, took 11 plays to drive in for another touchdown, but the pass for two points to tie the game was off the mark.

After a failed onside kick, the Lakers started celebrating while running out the clock with Johnson taking two knees.

•  Adams ended the game with 98 yards on 18 carries, while Riley Dell had 61 yards on 11 rushes.  

Johnson completed 7-of-12 passes for 87 yards with Carter Meyer catching three for 43 yards, Tristan O’Neill snaring two for 10 yards and Adams and Harvey adding one reception each.

Wildman also returned three kickoffs for 95 yards and had one interception returned for 21 yards, while Braylen Scharmer had two interceptions and Owen Meulebroeck had a sack.

Waska 21, at Rockford 19

Minnewaska (3-2) 14 0 0 7 — 21

Rockford (2-3) 0 7 0 12 — 19

Min — Kaiden Harvey 9-pass from Levi Johnson (Zach Gugisberg kick)

Min — Miles Wildman 5-run (Gugisberg kick)

Rock — Rockford defense recovers fumble in EZ (kick good)

Rock — Braden Blanchard 46-pass from Timothy Houghton (kick fail)

Min — Asante Adams 39-run (Gugisberg kick)

Rock — Blanchard 26-pass from Houghton (pass failed)

Team stats Min Rock

First downs 14 10

Rushes-net yards 40-178 25-49

Pass-cp-int-yds 12-7-0-87 25-13-3-169

Total yards 265 218

Fumbles lost 1-1 2-1

Punts-average 4-35 4-42

Penalties-yards 7-33 4-30

Minnewaska statistics

Rushing — MIN-Asante Adams 18-98, Riley Dell 11-61, Levi Johnson 7-7, Carter Meyer 2-6, Miles Wildman 2-6. . ROCK-Dalton Larson 8-31, Timothy Houghton 6-7, Sean Kevin-Asangwe 8-8, Bradley Graunke 2-3

Passing (attempts-comp-intercept-yrds) — MIN-Johnson 12-7-0-87. . ROCK-Houghton 25-13-3-194

Receiving (catches-yards) — MIN-Meyer 3-43, Tristan O’Neil 2-10, Adams 1-29, Kaiden Harvey 1-9 . . . ROCK-Braden Blanchard 6-114, Kevin-Asangwe 3-33, Grant Kloss 2-27, William Luckett 2-20

Punts-average — MIN-Connor Frey 4-35

Returns — Kickoff-Wildman 3-95. . . Punt-UA

Defense — Fumble Rec-MIN-1 (UA) . . . Interceptions-MIN-Braylen Scharmer 2-0, Wildman 1-21 . . . Sacks-Owen Meulebroeck 1

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