Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Saturday, November 03, 2007
Stackhouse propels Hurricanes to win
HOUSTON, Minn. — It was one of the hardest-hitting games Houston High School football coach Jason Freed had ever witnessed.
Two teams a combined
19-1 with a state-tournament bid on the line.
One play decided it all. After Mabel-Canton had pulled within a score, Houston fullback Zach Stackhouse answered the Cougars’ long drive on the ensuing play from scrimmage.
The junior busted through the line, cut back and saw nothing but the end zone in going 57 yards for the score, leading Houston to a 26-7 win in the MSHSL Section 1, 9-man championship.
“My men blocked and all I had to do was run,” said Stackhouse, who finished with 121 yards on 15 carries.
The play came just after M-C (9-2) went 81 yards in 15 plays to pull within 14-7 on Parker Johnson’s 21-yard touchdown run.
Driving into Houston
(11-0) the population sign reads 1,020 and it seemed 1,016 fans were at the field to watch Houston earn its first state bid since 1982.
The Hurricanes will play at 7 p.m. Thursday against Verndale at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people here,” Freed said.
While Houston needed just one play on Stackhouse’s run, the rest of the scoring drives were long ones.
Houston needed 20 plays to go 83 yards in getting that 7-0 halftime lead. Andy Sires capped off that drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak.
Like the first matchup between these two teams, it was close at halftime. The first meeting, which went to Houston 33-7, the score was 7-7 at halftime.
Freed knew, if the outcome was going to be similar, their first possession of the second half would be the difference.
“I told them the first five minutes of the second half would dictate how the rest of the game was played,” Freed said. “And we came out and made some big blocks.”
The Hurricanes put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by Kevin Lindh’s 28-yard touchdown run to go up 14-0 to start the second half.
The Cougars, however, answered two possessions later with Johnson’s score, but, of course, Stackhouse’s run answered that.
The difference in the game was Houston’s bend-but-don’t-break defense.
The Hurricanes, who were 15-2 since 1992 against M-C coming into this season, gave up just three plays more than 10 yards in the second half.
“Our offense feeds off our defense,” Freed said. “The defense sets the tone on how we’re going to play.”
Johnson ended with 87 yards rushing, while teammate Laurence Caldwell had 83. Lindh ended with 86 yards, while Sires had two touchdown runs from 1 yard out.
All stories copyright 2000 - 2006 Winona Daily News and other attributed sources.