Several players from the Becker Bulldog football team participated in the Minnesota Vikings 7-on-7 passing tournament in Minnetonka and Eden Prairie last Sunday with the Bulldogs taking home the first place trophy with four wins. Head Coach Dwight Lundeen brought three coaches and 12 players to the one-day tournament held at Minnetonka High School and the Vikings training facility at Winter Park.
Sixteen teams from all across the state of Minnesota participated in a tournament designed to showcase quarterbacks and passing defense. There are no linemen and direct contact is not allowed.
The teams participating were: Becker, Fridley, Academy Force, Bloomington Jefferson, DeLaSalle, So. St. Paul, Lakeville South, Rogers, Stillwater, Rosemount, Alexandria, Zimmerman, Cambridge-Isanti, Barnesville, Minnetonka and St. Cloud Apollo.
Becker has won the tournament once before and finished second and third place a number of times. This year’s team consisted of Bryce Boser, Austin Berning, Travis Ferris, Kreeden Blomquist, Nick Middlestead, Sam Ricker, Alex Blomgren, Brady Sheeley, Lucas Dertinger, Sidney Boros, Jayden Gruba and Josh Fobbe.
“It’s pretty special to me to have these kids win this,” said Coach Lundeen. “All four teams we beat are excellent programs and had great teams.”
The Bulldogs’ first game of the day was a 9 a.m. game Sunday against Fridley. The game was tight throughout until Becker opened the floodgates and won by 55-38.
Becker advanced to play Bloomington Jefferson at 11 a.m. after the Jaguars dispatched of Academy Force in their first game. It turned into another high-scoring, tight affair with the Bulldogs emerging with a 42-35 win.
In their third game of the day, Becker took on Stillwater at 1 p.m. and the game was wide open, eventually going to overtime where Becker eked out the win, 53-52.
In the championship game at 2 p.m., the Bulldogs faced a familiar foe from a few state tournaments ago, the DeLaSalle Islanders. In the MSHSL championship game in 2015, Becker beat the Islanders, 24-6 to capture the Class AAAA Prep Bowl. Sunday, Becker broke their hearts again as they beat DeLaSalle, 26-24 to win the coveted hardware.
The 7-on-7 games have teams start on the opponent’s 40-yard-line. First downs are earned by gaining 20 yards rather than the usual 10. Interceptions count as turnovers, but cannot be returned for a score. When one possession concludes, teams flip-flop sides and start again from the 40. Referees are present, but rarely do more than keep time, determine completions and spot the ball.
Big plays are frequent, scores are elevated and athleticism abounds.
Coach Lundeen praised all his players, but singled out two who significantly stepped up to carry the team. One, QB Josh Fobbe was having an excellent tournament finding his receivers and scoring TDs but on the first play of the championship game against DeLaSalle, Fobbe rolled out and his pass attempt fell directly into the ground in front of him. Lundeen and his coaches were stunned until they found out Fobbe’s thumb had cramped on him against his palm and he couldn’t straighten the digit out to hold the ball.
“In the 50 years I’ve been coaching, I’ve seen hamstrings, knees and head injuries but I’ve never seen a thumb cramp like that and not return to full function,” said Lundeen.
Fobbe was pulled from the game and receiver Bryce Boser was called upon to lead the team. Boser has a history behind center for Lundeen and he barely skipped a beat as he led the team to victory in the final game.
“Bryce came into a tough situation and did a great job executing the offense,” Lundeen said.
Other standouts were Lucas Dertinger, who caught numerous big passes for gains and scores. On defense, Free Safety Alex Blomgren had three critical interceptions against the Islanders in the championship game to squelch scoring drives.
Coach Lundeen was assisted on the sidelines by coaches Troy Robinson, Hokan Bengtson and Mike Lundeen. They also had two Vikings representatives as part of the team, Scout Jeff Robinson and Executive Director Community Relations / Youth Football Brad Madson.
