For the second time in as many weeks, Johnson dug itself a massive early hole. This time, there was no way out of it. The Governors struggled early and often in their 62-20 loss to Willmar in a Class 4A state football semifinal game Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“I expected a little bit more from the fellas as far as just being a little bit stronger in responsibility,” Johnson coach Eric Moberg said. “I think we made mistakes that we haven’t all season.”
He felt the same way about Johnson’s first half in the state quarterfinals against St. Anthony, when the Governors fell behind 22-0 before rallying for a 24-22 victory. On Friday, Willmar attacked early and often. Cardinals quarterback Drey Dirksen put the team up 7-0 less than a minute into the game with a 25-yard run.
“That’s not unusual for us. We do that quite often,” Dirksen said of the quick start. “It just boosts our whole team. We like to receive every single time, because we like to have the offense push the team and get the adrenaline going. I think that’s a big part of the game. We have some fantastic plays the first drive, and it’s just fun.”
Willmar (11-1) carried that momentum throughout. It went up 21-0 early in the the second quarter as quarterback Drey Dirksen ran in his third touchdown of the night. Johnson senior receiver Luke Moberg said the Governors were a little in awe of the big stage early and thought that may have contributed to the slow start.
Still, Johnson answered with a 2-yard touchdown run from Joey Moberg to make it 21-7. But Dirksen threw three second-quarter touchdown passes to make it 41-7 at the break. Dirksen finished with 305 total yards and seven total touchdowns — four passing and three rushing.
Meanwhile, Johnson hurt itself with dropped passes, missed tackles and four interceptions.
“Once you get to this level, you have to take advantage of all your opportunities and in those moments when you have to make the stops and make the plays, you have to do it,” Eric Moberg said. “Willmar did, all day long, every play. They were throwing the ball deep and they’re connecting. It speaks volumes about their players and their coaches.
“They do things really well, and thus they’re here. They’re high powered, run-and-gun, and you can see it. They play. They flat-out play.”
Willmar has won its two state tournament games by a combined score of 106-20. The Cardinals will face SMB next Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium for the state title.
“They keep going,” Willmar coach Jon Konold said of his team’s consistent improvement.
Consistent improvement has been one of Johnson’s goals all season. That, and developing men.
“It’s always said that you build a championship man, football takes care of itself,” Eric Moberg said. “So you’re going to have adversity, you’re going to fail, you’re going to flounder. So how do you respond? … That’s where we’re trying to take steps every day, develop young men, try to change a perspective and it’s about running away when things get hard, difficult, scary, inconvenient and that’s our goal is to change that.”
That shined through late in Friday’s loss. Johnson (7-5) was out of the game by halftime but did score 13 fourth quarter points as Daimarion Nelson rushed in a pair of scores. He finished with 171 rushing yards.
“Obviously we wanted a better outcome, but it’s amazing how far we’ve come,” Luke Moberg said. “I’m proud of my teammates, especially how we held in there at the end of the game. Not a lot of guys put their head down, a lot of guys kept battling and stuck together as a team. And that’s really what took is this far, is that we stayed together as a team.”
That’s the type of culture Eric Moberg has tried to build in his two years as Johnson’s coach. This year was evidence his players are believing in the process.
“I love what we have going on here,” Moberg said.
People are noticing it. Luke Moberg has attended the state hockey tournament and seen the big crowds. He always wondered if Johnson’s football team would have that type of following should it reach such a stage.
“And I honestly didn’t think it would be,” he said. “I didn’t think we’d have that kind of turnout.”
He was wrong. The stands behind Johnson’s sideline Friday were filled with Governors supporters.
“It was amazing to see,” he said. “And it’s amazing to see for the future teams to come, that they’re going to have a community behind them.”
