On a wet, rainy night last Saturday,  No. 1-seeded Zimmerman Thunder defeated the No. 4-seeded Becker Bulldogs by a score of 15-13 in the Section 6AAAA semifinals at Zimmerman High School. 

 

Becker had numerous opportunities to knock off the Thunder and advance to the finals. However, Zimmerman’s defense stood tall in the muddy puddles and limited the Bulldogs to two scores.

 

Even with under a minute  remaining, Becker had several opportunities to pull off an upset, but the Thunder defense came through to force a fourth down turnover to send the Thunder to the section finals. 

 

The Thunder defense — and Mother Nature — limited the Bulldog offense to one score — a five-yard rush by Bulldog quarterback Josh Fobbe with 4:18 left in the game. The only other score for the visitors came on a 90-yard kickoff return for TD by Isaac Koop in the first quarter. The second and third quarters showed both teams struggle to score as the defenses  forced multiple punts and turnovers.

 

Zimmerman’s biggest stop came on Becker's first possession of the second half when Becker drove the Zimmerman’s seven-yard line — but failed to score. 

 

Becker was on the move, behind by two points, when they converted a 27-yard hook and ladder play that set them up a first and goal at the Thunder 7-yard line. Becker couldn’t budge the Thunder front line and on fourth down, Carter McEachern deflected a Fobbe pass in the end zone to force a turnover on downs. 

 

Zimmerman jumped out to a lead early in the first when Landon Berroa scampered in from 11 yards out. The extra point kick was good to make it 7-0.

 

The drive for Zimmerman had started on Becker’s 14-yard line after a poor, two-yard punt set them up for a score.

 

Koop’s magnificent runback of the subsequent kickoff gave the Bulldogs a jolt, but the team’s achilles heel — converting extra points — came back to bite them again. With the failed kick, Zimmerman had a 7-6 lead heading into the latter stages of the first quarter.

 

The Thunder's game-winning score came after they returned a kickoff to midfield and on a two-yard  Daniel Gallagher run with about three minutes to go in the first quarter, they cashed in. The key play came on the successful two-point conversion where Gallagher connected with Tim Vorobyev on a swing pass to make it a two-possession game. 

 

The Thunder held on to a 15-6 lead until Fobbe scored late in the fourth quarter, so the two-point conversion ended up being the deciding factor. 

 

Zimmerman's offense struggled and Becker’s defense fought hard after Zimmerman did all their scoring   in the first quarter. Despite the sloppy conditions, there was only one fumble in the matchup and zero interceptions.

 

Fobbe finished with 98 yards through the air on 10-of-26 passing. His longest completion was 28 yards to WR Kevyn Vilayphanh.

 

Zimmerman’s Gallagher completed two of three passes for 10 yards, while adding 55 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Brett Howard led the team with 58 yards on 10 carries, while Berroa rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown after missing the team's final two games of the regular season. 

 

Becker’s Nick Goth notched 49 yards on the ground in 17 carries, including a 13-yarder. Morgan Boros had 23 yards on five carries.

 

Vilayphanh had three receptions for 41 yards while Carter Hietala had 38 yards on three catches.

 

Koop led Becker’s defense with six tackles and two assists including one tackle for loss. Mikey James and Brandon Weber had four tackles each and two sacks.

 

Zimmerman (6-3) moved on to play Delano (6-3) in the section final Friday at Monticello High School. The Thunder defeated the Tigers in the first game of the season, 37-19, and are looking to earn their first section title and advance to their first state tournament in program history.