Cannon Falls Football Achieves Three-Peat

The Cannon Falls Bombers ended their season 7-0 after exploding in the second half to defeat St. Croix Lutheran last night 56-21 at John Burch Park in Cannon Falls.  The win gave them a three-peat of the Section 4 Class 3A title.  Had there been a state tournament this year they would have qualified again.

It is the first undefeated season ever for Cannon Falls Bombers football.  Unlike other games this season the Bombers had to come from behind.  The Crusaders struck first on a 66 yard pass 17 seconds into the game.  The extra point kick was good and St. Croix Lutheran was up 7-0.

Head Coach Dan Meyers told KDHL after the broadcast on the Mighty 920 it looked like his team might go behind by two scores when the Crusaders had the ball on the Bombers 7 yard line on their next drive.  Coach Meyers took a time out to settle down his defense.

One of the best secondary players for Cannon Falls, junior Colton Loeschke injured his elbow during the series and was out for the game.  The Bombers did stop St. Croix Lutheran and proceeded to score 5 touchdowns before the Crusaders saw the end zone again.

With 1:25 to go in the first quarter senior Marcus Banks ran in the first of his three touchdowns.  The two point conversion failed.  It was St. Croix Lutheran 7  Cannon Falls 6 after the first quarter.

The Bombers would score 16 points in the second quarter to take a 22-7 lead at the half.  Those two scores would happen in the final 1:44 of the half.  Banks ran in from 7 yards and 4 yards out.  The senior scoring machine ran in and caught a pass from Owen Edstrom  for success on both two point conversions.

In between those quick scores was an outstanding interception by senior Loden Bell.

The Bombers added two more scores in the third quarter.  Senior Jake McAdam ran into the end zone from a yard out with 8:08 to go in the quarter.  Senior tight end Cam Dicke ran for the two point conversion.

With 5:35 to go in the third senior Dillen Anderson had a 10 yard TD run.  The two point play was not successful.

With 23 seconds to go in the quarter St. Croix Lutheran scored and converted the two points.

Senior Devin Sexton bulled in from 2 yards out  with sophomore kicker Spencer Krinke connecting on the extra point kick with 8:23 to go in the game.

Bombers junior Carson Hammel scored on an electrifying 74 yard runat the 7:14 mark of the quarter.  Krinke's kick was again good.

St. Croix Lutheran had a 12 yard touchdown run with 4:30 to go.

40 seconds later Cannon Falls answered when Anderson got his second TD of the game on a 8 yard run.  The extra point kick attempt was no good.

Coach Meyers told KDHL, "It was a great way to end an amazing season.  I'm glad that all the seniors got to play and got to finish the season on the field with a win.  The run game was incredible again, with offensive linemen Michael Steinhibel (5'10, 230, Sr.), Carson Kronenberger (5'11, 230, Sr.), Kendrick Otto (6'0, 240, Jr,), Mason Anderson-Rosebear (5'9, 165, Sr.) and Luke Hoffman (5'10, 240, Sr.) setting the blocks for 402 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns."

"As a coaching staff," Meyers added, "we are so proud of this team and how they played together this season."

Cannon Falls was also one of the few teams in the state that did not lose an opponent or a game to COVID-19 cases.  Coach Meyers told us on the Cannon Falls Coaches Show this morning his players took the pandemic seriously wearing masks and physically distancing during practices in particular.

Hammal led the running attack with 144 yards on 7 carries.  Banks had 104 yards with 10 runs.  He also had 2 catches for 69 yards.  McAdam tallied 74 yards on 3 carries.

Quarterback senor Owen Edstrom was 4 of 5 passing for 105 yards.  Dicke had a 15 yard catch, Riley Keenan a 21 yard reception in addition to the Banks catches.

Cannon Falls finished the game with 507 total yards.  St. Croix Lutheran had 126 rushing, 178 passing for 304 total yards.

McAdam led the Bombers defense with 8 tackles.  Riley Keenan had 7 tackles, 4 solo, a sack and two tackles for loss.  Anderson-Rosebear collected 6 tackles.  Edstrom with 5 tackles.  Beau Zimmerman had 5 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble.  In addition to the big interception Loden Bell had 5 tackles and a fumble recovery.  Dicke had two pickoffs.

Cannon Falls averaged 44.6 points per game this season while giving up 18.6.

It's a shame there was no state tournament this year because in my opinion this team had all the talent to win a Class 3A state title.

The Minnesota Associated Press has indicated they will choose the State Champion in each of the six state football classes.  I would rather keep the season ending the way it is.  How do you determine in Class 3A for example who the best team is when top of the polls teams Annandale, Cannon Falls, Waseca all finished their schedule undefeated?

Flip a coin?  No.  The state champion should always be determined on the field.