Minneota linebacker Parker Bradley (51) and Lincoln Jerzak celebrate Bradley’s goal line interception during the first half of a prep football game against Dawson-Boyd on Friday night at K.P. Kompelien Field in Minneota.

MINNEOTA — The first quarter of the top-ranked Minneota football team’s senior night matchup against No. 11 Dawson-Boyd was competitive when the Vikings and Blackjacks met at K.P. Kompelien Field on Friday night. That was not the case for the rest of the game. While the Blackjacks were the most recent team to beat Minneota back on Oct. 19, 2022, nobody has come close to this year’s Vikings as they coasted to their 28th consecutive win, 54-0.

Over their last three games, the Vikings have now scored a total of 197 points. The Vikings were up 14-7 on Lakeview two weeks ago before finishing with a 76-7 win and then defeated Lac qui Parle Valley 81-0 last week.

“We’re doing a lot of good things, Dawson being a quality football team with some weapons,” Minneota head coach Chad Johnston said, adding that they were looking to apply pressure with their pass rush and he felt like his team succeeded in that aspect. “I think some of his [Dawson-Boyd quarterback Gunner Liebl’s] throws weren’t 100% accurate, whether because he was rushed or whether it’s because of miscommunication, I don’t know, but it’s huge. When you get five I-N-Ts in a game, that makes a big difference too.”

Dawson-Boyd looked promising on its first drive, getting to the Minneota 34-yard line on a 22-yard catch from Colton Bothun. Yet, an Eli Gruenes sack backed the Blackjacks up and after deciding to go for it on fourth-and-12, Dawson-Boyd threw an interception. 

Lincoln Jerzak came up with the pick for the Vikings, leaping up to catch the ball around the Minneota 10-yard line and returning it all the way to the Dawson-Boyd 47. It didn’t take long for Ryan Meagher to take advantage with a 36-yard run, nearly untouched, to make the score 7-0 five minutes into the game.

Meagher continued to bulldoze his way through the Dawson-Boyd defense all night, finishing with 222 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries. Fier also contributed 65 yards on seven carries and a team-leading 52 receiving yards in the game.

After turning the ball over on their first drive, the Blackjacks looked hungry to tie the game back up on their second drive. Dawson-Boyd marched down the field with a series of quick passes. Among those passes, Drew Hjelmeland hauled in a tip drill off his teammate’s hands to set the Blackjacks up with a first-and-goal situation from the 9-yard line.

After a first-down incompletion, Minneota linebacker Parker Bradley jumped a route over the middle to come up with the Viking defense’s second interception as many possessions. 

Brayson Boike still had a solid receiving day for Dawson-Boyd, bringing in six receptions for 76 yards. Grayson Olson and Nate Hansen each added another pair of catches for 26 and 24 yards respectively. Liebl completed 12 of his 26 attempts for 151 yards with five interceptions. 

After the touchback set Minneota up at their own 20-yard line, the Dawson-Boyd defense forced a rare Minneota three-and-out. Rather than the Blackjack offense taking over, however, a fourth-down roughing the punter call kept the defense on the field. Meagher took advantage with a 42-yard run on the next play to get Minneota into Blackjack territory and, on the first play of the second quarter, Gruenes beat the Dawson-Boyd secondary for a 32-yard receiving touchdown on a pass from Fier, making the score 14-0. 

The touchdown marked just the beginning of a dominant 33-point second quarter for Minneota. Johnston attributed the shift to the Vikings’ pass rush success as well as increased comfort settling into an offensive rhythm. 

From there, the wheels fell off the wagon for the Blackjacks. Gruenes and Kyson Arndt combined for a sack on the next play from scrimmage, eventually leading to a 3-and-out, and a Destin Fier 41-yard run on the Vikings’ first play set them up in plus-territory. Carson Javers then got wide open for a 19-yard touchdown, increasing the VIkings’ lead to 21 points. 

Facing a second-and-20 after getting the ball back, Dawson-Boyd threw its third interception of the night on a deep ball intended for Boike. Chase Johnson made the play for the Vikings this time, setting up the offense at the 45-yard line. They again quickly moved down the field before a pair of runs by Meagher for a total of 31 yards capped off the drive with another Viking touchdown with under five minutes remaining in the half.

Even with time dwindling down in the half, Minneota continued to find ways to get the ball back and score quickly. A bad punt gave the Vikings the ball at the Dawson-Boyd 44-yard line and Meagher capitalized with 33- and 11-yard runs to punch in the touchdown. After the defense got another stop, Meagher broke off a 70-yard run with 72 seconds left before halftime to make the lead 40-0 heading into the locker room. 

Minneota showed no signs of slowing down after halftime. On the Vikings’ first set of downs after receiving the kickoff, Brody Larson found Fier over the middle for a 52-yard touchdown to make it a 47-point game.

Adam Devlaeminck picked off Dawson-Boyd on the Blackjacks’ first pass attempt of the second half. While Minneota wasn’t able to capitalize on the turnover and got off a punt for the first time all night, Easton Johnston made another interception on the Blackjacks’ next possession and took it 35 yards to the house to make the score 54-0. 

Facing an early deficit, Dawson-Boyd was never able to establish the run. It finished the day with -4 rushing yards compared to Minneota’s 309.

The Blackjacks found themselves with great field position after a high snap on a Minneota punt attempt gave Dawson-Boyd the ball at the Minneota 18-yard line. Yet, four consecutive incompletions rendered the opportunity useless and gave the Vikings the ball right back. 

Minneota improves to 8-0 with the win while Dawson-Boyd falls to 6-2. The two teams will now await seeding for the Section 5A tournament which will begin on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The presumably top-seeded Vikings enter the tournament in search of their fifth consecutive section title. The top two seeds in the section tournament earn a bye to the semifinals, which will be held on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Heading into the postseason, Johnston said the focus for his team is to stay focused and get healthy. He added that the team will continue to look to get its second- and third-stringers reps to help their development and to prepare the team in case of an injury.