MANKATO — There’s no doubt Mankato East senior running back Blake Kamphoff is the type of player that doesn’t mind a little bit of physical play.
Friday night at Wolverton Field, Kamphoff took his toughness to a new level as the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder amassed 219 total yards and scored a trio of touchdowns to lead the Cougars to a 27-20 victory over Chaska.
While Kamphoff and junior quarterback Kellen Willaert — 8 of 15 for 138 yards and a pair of scores — supplied much of the offensive fireworks, a swarming Cougars’ defense came up with enough stops to finish things off. Junior linebacker Maddox Hunecke was in on 5.5 tackles while senior lineman Cedric Williams Pore chipped in five stops and junior linebacker Mason Burgess totaled 3.5.
“We just really came together this week and built things up,” said Burgess, who set up a touchdown with a fumble recovery before blocking a game-tying extra point. “We just hadn’t played a complete game yet. They run the option so we had to be strong and keep our guards and tackles in there. Our D line was really good and then the linebackers came in and filled for the outside runs.
“I was four inches away from blocking two earlier kicks so I just needed to extend my arms a little and it worked. On the fumble, I just dove in there and got gritty to pull it out. This was a good bounce back win for us.”
After a scoreless first quarter, East (2-2) traveled 70 yards in eight plays to gain a 7-0 lead. Kamphoff powered his way into the end zone from five yards out with a late push from his offensive front. Chaska (2-2) countered with its own 70-yard possession to draw even at halftime on junior running back Justin Greathouse’s 27-yard TD scampter around right end. The Hawks ended up with 253 net yards compared to the Cougars’ 357.
Willaert’s quick toss to Kamphoff in the right flat turned into a 28-yard touchdown reception midway through the third segment. However, the Hawks tied things up at 14 three plays later when wide receiver Luke Raser took an option pitch and raced 61 yards down the left sideline.
Burgess’ fumble recovery of an errant snap set up Willaert’s 38-yard scoring aerial to a slanting junior wide receiver Colton Stehr to produce a 21-14 Cougars’ lead heading into the final 12 minutes. Stehr gathered in three receptions for 57 yards while junior wide out Blake Grovom caught two passes for 43 yards. Kamphoff carried the ball 26 times for 181 yards and caught three passes for 38 yards.
“There wasn’t anything specific we did differently,” Kamphoff said. “We came to practice on Monday and had a long talk about what we did in the Jug Game wasn’t going to cut it and we had to step things up. We have a mature group and we were able to come together to talk about it. We realized things had to change and we came out and played a great game where we were the more physical team.
“We were able to run the ball early so that opened the passing game up and we were able to expose them all night. My mom teaches me to be big on grit and to get second chance points. I’ll never go down on the first tackle, but I keep my feet moving and a lot of yards come after contact. … We prepared all week for their run-heavy offense and we stopped them to get our momentum going.”
After junior quarterback Dylan Kasper’s 1-yard TD sneak pulled the Hawks within a point on the initial play of the final quarter, Burgess got a hand on the PAT to keep the Cougars in front. Kamphoff then rambled 46 yards off left tackle to expand the margin to 27-20. East then got a defensive stop before a steady diet of Kamphoff over the final four minutes produced a game-ending three first downs.
“We knew they were going to test us physically and we did a nice lob of passing that,” East coach Eric Davis said.
“They did a nice job of adjusting and using some play action to get in motion. I thought our guys hung tough and made the plays at the end. We ran it well and that allowed us to get a couple of big plays in the passing game. Our kids really worked their tails off all week. … Our seniors stepped up and said what really needed to be said.”
East hosts Chanhassen Friday in its annual homecoming game.