Cannon Falls itching for section final rematch with P-E-M

Nov. 4—Dan Meyers sums up his team's offensive philosophy quite succinctly: Why take a gamble when you don't have to?

"People who watch football on Sundays think you have to spread it out to be explosive," said Meyers, the head football coach at Cannon Falls. "But when you average 8 yards per rush, what's the point of taking the risk of putting the ball in the air?"

As Meyers says, it's not that the Bombers are averse to passing. They just don't need to.

Cannon Falls has one of the state's most explosive offenses, averaging 49.3 points per game, the second-best mark in Class AAA football in the state, behind only Esko (50.1 ppg). The Bombers are led by a big, physical group of linemen and a dozen or more ball carriers whom they trust on any given play.

The Bombers (9-1), ranked No. 5 in the state and seeded second in the Section 1AAA playoffs, didn't attempt a single pass in their 67-33 section semifinal victory against La Crescent-Hokah, using 10 ball carriers to roll up 544 yards and nine rushing touchdowns.

That offense will be put to the test tonight, though, when Cannon Falls meets fourth-seeded Plainview-Elgin-Millville (7-3) at 7 p.m. at Rochester Regional Stadium in the Section 1AAA championship game, a rematch of last year's section final, which P-E-M won 21-18.

As great as the Bombers' offense has been, P-E-M has been one of the rare teams that has found ways to consistently limit it. In three of their past five meetings, P-E-M has held the Bombers to 24 or fewer points (including the 21-18 win in last year's Section 1AAA title game). The Bulldogs have done so thanks to some unconventional preparation.

"It's difficult to face them no matter what," said P-E-M coach Kevin Lamb, whose team knocked off top-seeded Lourdes 17-14 in last weekend's section semifinals. "We line up in a defense that we never use except for teams like Cannon Falls or (state power) Dassel-Cokato. It's a creation of (assistant coach) Daren Wingert and it shows the selflessness of our linemen. If they don't have tackles, that's OK. We need them to make plays by changing the path of the running back.

"We practice our defense this week without a football. We're on our guys to tackle every one of their running backs and quarterback on every play. That helps our guys to stay more focused, take care of their responsibilities and details."

Meyers and the Bombers have seen enough of P-E-M in recent years — including a narrow 24-18 win against it in Week 2 of the regular season this fall — to know what to expect in tonight's setion final.

"They limit our big plays; that's just what they do," Meyers said of the Bulldogs' defense. "Against other teams we've been able to pop big plays, 60-yard runs. They make us grind it out. ... We talk to our guys about having the right mindset, that we could end up in a low-scoring game and we're not used to that. We let the guys know that if the score is low, it doesn't mean we're playing bad. That's just how some games go against a good defense."

P-E-M has not only seen its defense jell in recent weeks, its offense has rounded into form, as well. Playmaker Kaiden Peters is the best kick returner in southeastern Minnesota, maybe in the entire state, but the Bulldogs have plenty of weapons that the Bombers will have to watch for.

Lamb credits the leadership of the Bulldogs' seniors, whom he said have pulled the team together and have it focused as one group, rather than as individuals.

"It definitely has been more confidence in each other, more trusting in each other," Lamb said. "The whole idea of believing in the power of the team over the power of the individual. We have some special athletes, but they can't do it by themselves. Even our scout team guys understand how valuable their roles are and that's been a big part of it."

Lamb pointed specifically to senior athlete Brady Herber, who is also a basketball standout for the Bulldogs.

"Brady plays a ton of basketball," Lamb said. "But his leadership, he has improved and improved and improved over the years with discipline and responsibility. And on Saturday (against Lourdes) he stepped up as a leader. I was out on the field during a timeout; they had the ball inside our 5. He stepped up and said what needed to be said, instead of waiting for coaches to say it.

"The next play, he caused a fumble and we recovered it. That's just one example of the way we have changed over the course of the year, into the playoffs."

P-E-M will need all of that leadership and teamwork tonight if it hopes to knock off the Bombers, who are in a section championship game for a sixth consecutive season. They went to state in 2018 and 2019, and would have gone in 2020 had the COVID pandemic not shut down the postseason.

"We definitely have high goals and state is what every team shoots for," Bombers coach Meyers said. "We try not to treat any game differently, whether it's Week 2 or Week 7 or a playoff game. Our motto this year has been 'all gas, no brakes.'

"We prepare for every game like it's a playoff game. We haven't done anything different this week than we'd normally do. We have high expectations of our guys' effort day in and day out."