Centennial bulls past Minnetonka with a late touchdown drive

Marcus Whiting thought he might get the chance to carry the football Friday, but the Centennial junior had no idea when or how much. He'd gotten reps in practice this week, but he was mostly concerned with his role as a defensive end.

When the rugged 5-11, 215-pound Whiting finally got his chance, he surprised even himself.

With the Cougars trailing Minnetonka by seven points in the fourth quarter, Whiting carried the ball 10 times for 45 tough yards. He scored his team's only touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left to lift Centennial to an 8-7 victory at home.

This was a quintessential Centennial football game, marked by tough defense, physical play and a never-say-die attitude.

"That's kind of us," coach Mike Diggins said of Centennial, 5-2 and ranked eighth in Class 6A and the Metro Top 10. "That's what we tell our kids. We're happy with that."

Mistakes and penalties were plentiful in a scoreless first half, forcing each team to lean on defense.

Minnetonka (4-3) finally broke through in the third quarter. The Skippers went on a 13-play, 52-yard drive and took a 7-0 lead when running back Roman Johnson scored on a 5-yard swing pass from quarterback Milos Spasojevic with 1:48 left in the third quarter.

The Centennial coaches agreed. Time to see what Whiting could do.

"Our offensive coordinator said, 'That's it. We're done with this,' " Diggins said. "We're going to put him in this drive and we're going to live with it."

The last time Whiting had carried the ball was as a freshman, when he played fullback on the ninth-grade team. With the Cougars missing their two top fullbacks because of injuries, the coaches cast their gaze toward him. "We call him our best defensive lineman, but he did a great job on offense tonight," Diggins said. "He's a dude."

Whiting admitted running the ball had crossed his mind. "I was thinking about it when I woke up at 6 a.m.," he said. "But in the game, I was just doing my job on defense and they throw me in."