Eagles get revenge on Bulldogs with 30-20 win

by Robert Brent, Let’s Play Football

The Totino-Grace Eagles hosted their homecoming matchup Friday night against the visiting Becker Bulldogs. While a homecoming affair is always one to look forward to, it wasn’t the main storyline on people’s minds regarding the matchup.

Instead, the focus lay on the Eagles looking to get revenge for the 2024 Class 4A State Championship game. The Bulldogs defeated the Eagles in that matchup with a resounding 24-8 victory.

Becker’s win gave the program and its historic head coach, Dwight Lundeen, their fifth state title. Totino-Grace is an even more storied program, having won 10 State Championships in 12 appearances.

Team Previews

The Eagles stumbled out of the gate this season with losses to strong programs Rocori (5-1) and Stewartville (5-1). Totino-Grace righted the ship with a 35-0 victory over St. Anthony Village and hasn’t looked back since.

In their next two games, the Eagles outscored their opponents, Columbia Heights and Fridley, by a combined score of 108-20. During their three-game win streak, the Eagles have featured a punishing running attack. The team eclipsed 230 yards on the ground in each game.

Their attack is led by freshman dual-threat runner and passer Henry Cone and junior running back/linebacker Benjamin Bergan. Senior wide receiver/safety Jaden Miller is another dangerous weapon for the Eagles, boasting explosive athleticism.

The Becker Bulldogs also struggled to start the season. They lost to Orono 21-0 in the opening week of the campaign before blowing out Hutchinson the following week. In week three, they dropped a contest against Fergus Falls, giving the defending state champs a 1-2 record to start the year.

Much like Totino-Grace, Becker had been able to get back to winning ways with consecutive wins over Princeton and St. Cloud Tech/St. Johns.

When the Bulldogs are at their best, they feature a stifling defense. They’ve won all three games in which they held their opponents to under 15 points, while dropping games against the two teams that scored more than 15 points.

As usual, the team features a balanced attack that spreads the field to create room for its playmakers. They have two passers who are dangerous in the form of senior Sawyer Brown and junior Tristan Kowalkowski.

Game Recap

The two teams traded fruitless possessions to start the game, with both defenses making key stops.

The Eagles struck first when Henry Cone tossed a short screen pass to Jaden Miller. Miller made a Becker defender miss and rumbled 80 yards to the endzone. Big-yardage chunk plays would later become a theme of the game, with this scoring play being the first, but certainly not the last. After a missed extra-point attempt, the Eagles got out to an early 6-0 lead.

That lead held throughout the quarter to make the first stanza a relatively low-scoring one.

Becker got on the board early in the second with a sustained drive that led to an 8-yard touchdown pass from Sawyer Brown. Senior Sebastien Cabrera caught the ball for a relatively easy score.

Totino-Grace responded on the ensuing drive when Henry Cone scored his second touchdown of the night, this time on the ground. He broke off a 20-yard run to the endzone for another big yardage play for the Eagles.

A huge potential momentum swing came on the next drive. Becker looked to be driving, but a crucial penalty set them back. Totino-Grace seemed to have made a stop and was set to get the ball back, but turned the ball over on the Becker punt, giving the Bulldogs a chance at getting points before halftime.

The Bulldogs drove down to the red zone, but the Eagles’ defense came up with a huge stop to preserve the 13-7 lead.

After halftime, the Eagles once again turned the ball over deep in their own territory, giving Becker another chance to tie it up or take the lead. Once again, the Totino-Grace defense held firm and came up with a goalline stand.

On the first play of the Eagles’ drive, Benjamin Bergan broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and ran down the field for a 98-yard touchdown run to put Totino-Grace up 20-7.

The Bulldogs responded on the next drive with a sustained march down the field that ended in a 1-yard quarterback run up the middle for a Tristan Kowalkowski touchdown.

The Eagles came up with another chunk play on the ensuing drive with a long pass and catch from Henry Cone to senior tight end Luther Bunge. Bunge was pushed out at the three-yard line, which set up another Cone rushing touchdown to put the Eagles up 27-13 as the third quarter ended.

Becker football refused to quit in the fourth quarter, with a 31-yard strike from Kowalkowski bringing the Eagles’ lead back to just seven points at 27-20.

Totino-Grace got the ball back and closed out the game with sustained possession punctuated by a 16-yard field goal to give the Eagles their revenge over Becker with a 30-20 victory.

Looking Forward

Totino-Grace is looking to continue its momentum as it finishes its regular season. They’ll take on Hutchinson (2-4) next weekend before a huge matchup with undefeated Byron (6-0) to close out their schedule.

Both games will be on the road and serve as a significant test for an Eagles team that’s absolutely on fire right now.

Becker will look to rebound next weekend at home, but it won’t be getting any easier. They’ll square off with Rocori. Rocori has a 5-1 record with impressive wins over Totino-Grace and Fergus Falls.

Becker ends their season with a home contest against 1-5 Detroit Lakes. Two wins would go a long way in putting a good punctuation on the end of an up-and-down Bulldogs season.

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