Thole: Pony gridders find a room at Heartbreak Hotel

I'm sure that the Stillwater Ponies football team and their coaches are suffering from the burst-your-bubble syndrome after that Heartbreak Hotel loss to Mounds View 23-17 last Friday night.

It's a condition suffered by every team that doesn't win the state championship - and I know, because I've been there several times myself. You practice hard, plan and play and then everything is taken away as you ponder how great things could have been.

The team and coaches did a terrific job giving us a 9-1 season that contained a plethora of thrills and chills en route to the conference championship and a score of new school records.

I know that it's cold soup now, but soon we will realize how much was accomplished. When your season ends so abruptly, it feels like a free-fall from the 48th floor. I can assure you that coach Scott Hoffman and his varsity assistants Mark Elmer, Dick Klein, Mike Pavlovich, Bryan Keister, Jim DeLeon and Mark Kubacki will be in a funk 'til after the banquet.

That goes without saying, but remember that only the state champion is left smiling - but even they will feel a loss when it's time to turn the equipment in, especially for the seniors. Eventually everyone will bounce back, even the coaches.

Ponies quarterback Miles Heller was on target again as he completed 23 of 36 passes for 239 yards and ranks among this school's very best - which includes two all-staters and two more all-metro QB selections.

In spite of the efforts put forth by Heller and company, it just wasn't our night and there was nary a turnover from Mounds View. That defense of Junkyard Dogs, as I like to call them, feasted on and forced opponents into bad plays with a plus-17 turnover ratio. This time, Mounds View had no turnovers compared to the five they had the first time these teams met and that was the big difference.

During his career - all but two completions were from this season - Heller connected on 113-187 passes for 1,506 yards to rank fourth on the school's all-time career list. Last year, the talented senior led the locals in receiving. This time the honor went to junior Carson Cannon with 30 catches for 473 yards, followed by Andrew Nepp with 25 for 413 yards. Two-year 6-foot-8 starting tight end Ryan Duxbury had a career total of 37 for 416 yards.

Workhorse running back Jesse George had a career rushing mark of 2,145 yards with 24 TDs to rank fifth, with his 144 points tying Leo Guzman '79-80 for eighth in career scoring. While resting, George caught 41 passes for 363 yards during his varsity career.

When your offense averages 312.5 yards and 25.7 points per game, then your line must be doing something right. This unit rarely gets recognition and never gets to touch the ball, except for junior center and two-year starter Mitch Elmer. Heller and George would be the first to praise Elmer, guards Brad Voeller, Tim McNulty, tackles Derek Rogers, John McCarthy, junior Brock Horwath and tight ends Duxbury and junior Joe Zorn.

That hard-nosed defense held opponents to 9.7 points per game. All-state candidate Jeremy Gillard set the SAHS single-season defensive points record with 294, breaking the 249 mark set in 1996 by Matt MacDonald. In fact, MacDonald fell to third on the list after junior Andrew Rose recorded 255 points. Gillard ranks fourth on the career list with 422 points.

Other defensive point totals this season include Josh Radmanovich (174), junior Jake Lammi (165), Eric Bradley (158) and J.C. O'Keefe (108). That veteran defensive unit also contained Ponies Mike Guild, Pete VandenBranden, Justin Bernardin, Aaron Bunton and junior Mike Krejci.

Junior Pax Harvieux was 28 of 31 on PATs and perfect on three field goals. Zach Gardner completed 21 of 42 passes for 293 yards and Sam Magilke rushed 41 times for 152 yards for 2 TDs in directing the locals to a pair of wins in the absence of Heller and George. Never a dull moment.

In the huddle

While reading the Nov. 6-8 USA Weekend, I was surprised to learn that the annual report from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research found that cheerleading is the most dangerous sport among high school and college female athletes. The study cites gymnastic type stunts as the culprits.... How about former all-state track ace Sean Graham '98 making the 25th Anniversary Colonial Athletic Conference Team in men's cross country? Graham was a star runner at William and Mary where he received All-American honors. He currently is assistant coach at American University in D.C., where he is a graduate student.... I enjoyed the article that Gazette managing editor Kris Janisch penned Nov. 3 on Stillwater artist and former SAHS Cheval Kami (Mendlik) Polzin. Karen and I own four Polzin originals and are happy campers.... I would like the Minnesota State High School League to adopt the NCAA rules for football. This would simplify the game for players, coaches and fans. As it now stands, there are more than 100 differences between the NCAA and National Federation rule books. Yes, I would even go to 15-minute quarters. Football hasn't increased the number of games, excluding playoffs, in six decades. Football still can schedule only eight games while basketball and hockey have jumped from 18 to 25.... The Thole Poll: 1. Eden Prairie (10-0); 2. Wayzata (9-1); 3. Stillwater (9-1); 4. Cretin (9-1); 5. Mounds View (9-1); 6. Mankato West (11-0); 7. Glencoe-SL (11-0); 8. St. Thomas (10-0); 9. Centennial (10-1); 10, tie, Totino-Grace (10-0), Sartell (11-0) and Hutchinson (9-2).... Psst, a little birdie tells me that former Pony stalwarts Justin Hesse '96 and Kevin Gullikson '04 will assist former Pony cager and interim head coach Keven Seim when he leads Totino-Grace this winter. Hesse quarterbacked SAHS to the 1995 state title (14-0). Gullikson was all-conference on back-to-back SEC cage title teams in 2003-04 and 2004-05 who later played for the Wisconsin Badgers.... Sorry to see the passing of two former Pony athletes in Tom Johnson '71, a Stillwater resident, at age 55, and James "Umpty" Dahlü '45, formerly of Bayport, at age 82.... Allison Kopesky '09, a former Pony lacrosse and soccer player, is attending NDSU and playing club lacrosse.... Six-man prep football is still played in 12 states, with most of it played in Texas.... Angie Nasby '93, a Pony all-conference alpine skier, is the coach at Hill-Murray. She is the space planner for The Hartford Company and lives in New Richmond, Wis.... Don't tread on me.... Finis

Today's rumination #437

Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.

George Thole retired as head football coach at Stillwater after the 1999 season. He ranks among Minnesota's top coaches in history with a 285-69-2 record (.805 winning percentage), including four state titles and two state runner-up finishes among 22 championship seasons. He co-authored (with Jerry Foley) "Coaching the Veer Offense," second edition. His column appears Thursdays in the Gazette. To contact the hall of fame coach e-mail: gthole@acnpapers.com

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