Trojans Thump Anoka, Improve to 3-0

Wayzata High School's football team started the year with 10 new starters on offense. The only person that had started a game was running back Mitch Underhill, and he’s sidelined for the rest of the season.

“Nick Martin was the only one that had any playing time before the first game," head coach Brad Anderson said. "He was telling me that he was nervous, and he has played in a prep bowl before. We had a lot of kids that were starting for the first time.”

But since their first game of the year, the squad—on both sides of the ball—has become increasingly more comfortable on the football field. This increased confidence is infectious, and had a lot to do with Friday night's convincing victory over unbeaten Anoka. Playing on their home turf for the first time this season didn't hurt either.

Game Recap:

The game started with Anoka attempting to pressure Wayzata quarterback Nick Martin, but adaptive play calling took advantage of Anoka's early aggressiveness. Hauling in a screen pass and dancing 14 yards to pay dirt put Wayzata on the board first, and the Trojans never looked back.

Wayzata then doubled their lead after running back Antonio Ford ran the ball down the field, close enough for Roti to score his second touchdown of the day on a dive inside.

A big victory for the Wayzata defense came after Anoka used their power-run game to jam the ball down to the one-yard line. After multiple attempts, the Tornado offense came away with their tail between their legs, unable to push for the final yard against a determined Wayzata defensive front.

But Anoka went back to what they do best, and full back Josh Werness ran over would-be tacklers to take the ball 12 yards and into the end zone for the Tornadoes first touchdown of the day.

With the lead cut to 14-7, Martin then got an opportunity to show his leadership during the final couple minutes of the first half.

Without a timeout, Martin drove the offense down the field with his arm, finishing the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to again put Wayzata up by 14 going into halftime.

“How Nick ran that two-minute drill just before half showed a lot of maturity and poise,” coach Anderson said after the game.

After the Trojans settled for a field goal coming out of halftime, they exploded on their next series.

Roti ran the ball up the middle, and after a few quick cuts, took the ball 49 yards for another touchdown. It was Roti’s third of the night and put Wayzata up 31-7.

A fourth quarter touchdown pass put Anoka within striking distance, but the Trojans responded with a score of their own: an eight-yard scamper by Antonio Ford.

One of the highlights of the game was when second-string linebacker Nate Lange scooped up a Tornado fumble and took it 46 yards for Wayzata’s final score of the night. The Trojans missed the extra point.

Anoka’s second string offense scored a touchdown in the final minutes of the game to cap the night's scoring, and Wayzata walked off the field with a convincing 44-21 win and their perfect season in tact.

Patch.com Player of the Game: Erik Roti

After watching a Wayzata football game you will notice one thing about running back Erik Roti: he’s blazing fast.

The coaching staff did a great job at getting him the ball in space against Anoka, and he has proven to be the Trojans' biggest game breaker. He’s just getting started.

What the Trojans did well…

They played with confidence, poise and showed more comfort executing their game plan. Of course, it helped that they were playing their first game on home soil.

The team also seemed to eliminate mental mistakes that were seen in previous weeks. Coach Anderson said the team kept practice simple during the week and didn’t add a lot to the offensive and defensive schemes. It showed on the field.

The offense also showed some diversity in player contribution. This improves squad depth, making Wayzata a better overall team.

What the Trojans need to improve…

Overall, the offense needs to keep progressing throughout the season in order to be in top form going into the section playoffs. With 11 new starters on that side of the ball, every bit of experience counts in building confidence and tightening schemes.

The defense needs to improve on playing against a power-run game. The Wing-T offense, run by Anoka, looked fairly effective at times against a smaller Wayzata defense. Wayzata will also need to improve on gang tackling and cutting down blockers in the future.

“Defensively, we are not a big team," coach Anderson said. "The biggest thing for us is to be able to bend a little bit but make teams go long distances. The key is not letting the other team control the ball.”

Next Game

Friday, Sept. 23, at the University of Dubuque in Iowa. They play Carmel Catholic High School, which is from Illinois. Game starts at 7 p.m.

Patch will have a preview of the contest later this week.