What we learned in Week 1 of the prep football season

Turnovers can nullify talent.

St. Paul Academy/Minnehaha Academy/Blake (SMB Wolfpack) learned that Friday night in an agonizing 15-14 defeat to Fridley in overtime. It was the season opener for both teams.

"That was a heartbreaking loss, a gut punch," Wolfpack coach Chris Goodwin said. "Our defense gave us every chance to win that game."

That they did. The Wolfpack limited Fridley to 149 total yards and the lone touchdown it yielded came on a fourth-down play in overtime when the Tigers started at 10-yard line.

The offense struggled with consistency and miscues. The Wolfpack wound up turning the ball over five times (three interceptions and two fumbles). Three of the turnovers were in Fridley territory and another resulted in a touchdown on a 60-yard return by Kerome Thompson off a tipped pass.

"We had moments of greatness on offense," Goodwin said. "Then we would turn around and have a drive killer."

The Wolfpack tied it at eight-all with 4 minutes, 1 second remaining in the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Merrick Woods connected with senior wide receiver Kobey Sandifer on a 38-yard touchdown pass and junior running back Landon Dillon added the two-point conversion run. Dillon also scored the overtime touchdown on a 9-yard run but was stopped just short of the goal line on the two-point conversion run.

"The kids played hard. It just didn't work out for us," Goodwin said. "I am very optimistic this season."

As he was in overtime after Dillon scored. On fourth down-and-nine Fridley senior quarterback Myson Newton found junior wide receiver Isaiah Watson, who also had two interceptions, in the back corner of the end zone with a perfect scoring strike. Freshman kicker Luis Zentella calmly added the extra point.

"That pass would have been hard for anybody to defend," Goodwin said. "He made a nice move on our defensive back and the ball was perfectly thrown to the back corner of the end zone."

Wolfpack Division I prospect juniors Dane Borene (6-4, 230) and Trent Page (6-4, 225) were outstanding containing 1,000-yard rusher Newton, as were senior middle linebacker Joey Stolpestad (6-1, 215) and sophomore linebacker Jeffrey Ratliff (6-2, 185). Newton finished with 66 yards on the ground on 32 attempts, a 2.1-yard average per carry.

"Our defense did a great job chasing him down on the sidelines," Goodwin said. "I don't think they could have played any better."

Wolfpack senior offensive tackle Peyton Lange (6-9, 390) is also being looked at by Division I schools.

"This game just didn't go our way," Goodwin said. "All the mistakes we made are fixable."

Wayzata opened its season with a resounding 52-13 victory over Roseville. It capped off a day of nothing but smiles for Trojans coach Lambert Brown, junior tight end Jack Simon (6-4, 210) and everybody associated with the program and Simon.

Earlier in the day, Simon learned his cancer was in remission. "I finished my last chemo today, so I'm shifting my focus from being a 'Cancer Warrior' to being a 'Trojan Warrior,' " Simon tweeted on August 19.

Brown told Wayzata.com: "The best part of the night, and the biggest, was the reality that Jack Simon found out that he was cancer free tonight. Football is awesome, but for Jack to have all these amazing people in his life and for him to have such influence on all those people, that's what it's really all about — all those people cheering at the end and the excitement for Jack and Jack's fight. That is 100% the most important thing tonight."

St. Michael-Albertville graduated 19 senior starters from its 7-5 team of a year ago. The Knights were going to be young and inexperienced to start the season.

Forest Lake has been a program that has struggled for years and under new leadership. Brad Beeskow would be making his debut as the Rangers' mentor after serving as Holy Angels' offensive coordinator the previous three seasons.

He was taking over program that accumulated a 14-81 record the past 11 years, including four consecutive 0-9 seasons.

Beeskow is already a household name in the community. Senior quarterback Keagan Zeidler threw three touchdown passes as Forest Lake downed the Knights 35-20. St. Michael-Albertville won last year's meeting 42-6.

Class 5A defending state champion Mankato West got its title defense underway in orderly fashion, at least for a half. The Scarlets built a 23-0 halftime lead on Rochester John Marshall when the game was halted due to lightning strikes in the Rochester area and making the score officially final. It wasn't the lone game around the Rochester area halted early.

5 Touchdowns scored (four rushing and one receiving) by Minneapolis Henry senior running back Newmann Thomas in the Patriots' 54-0 victory over Minneapolis Roosevelt.

14 Seconds it took St. Paul Highland Park's Shea Landa to return the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. The Scots went on to beat Minneapolis Southwest 32-0.

23.875 Average yards per carry for Chanhassen junior running back Maxwell Woods on eight totes. He scored three touchdowns on runs of 31, 47 and 84 yards, leading the Storm to a 27-7 triumph over Hastings.

78 Points Mountain Iron-Buhl figured it needed to score while shutting out Hill City/Northland.

98 Yardage covered on Armstrong quarterback Jamen Malone's touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquan Tucker. The senior finished with seven catches for 230 yards in the Falcons' 35-14 victory over Waconia.

213 Rushing yards for Chaska senior running back Reese Turner in a 35-7 victory over Bloomington Jefferson. He had scoring runs of 1, 2 and 72 yards amongst his 22 carries.