By Mike Drooger –

Welcome to the Southwest Minnesota Arena Football League where the action is fast and furious, the points accumulate faster than the national debt, defenses are tested on every play, and no lead is safe.

It wasn’t actually arena league football, but when Edgerton hosted Westbrook-Walnut Grove on September 30 there was plenty of action.  Edgerton appeared to be in total control at halftime with a lead of 28-6, but WWG just wouldn’t go away.  When the final buzzer sounded and the smoke had cleared nearly three hours after kickoff, the teams had amassed 82 points.  The Dutchmen outscored the Chargers 56-26 to move to 2-3 on the season.

When a team puts 56 points on the board it’s not surprising there are some great individual performances.  Blake Schultz and Carter Amundson had games they and family members will remember for a long time.  If this game had occurred back in the “Stone Age” of VCRs, the Schultz and Amundson families would put this game on a VHS cassette tape, and remove the tab from the back of the cassette so it couldn’t be recorded over. 

It was Homecoming Week at EHS, which meant each day there were special activities.  On Thursday, each high school class dressed in a predetermined color.  Sophomores were assigned the color blue.  Schultz raided his mom’s closest to find a light blue, lacy skirt.  While Schultz showed off his legs in school on Thursday, it was his arm that took center stage on Friday night.  He delivered three TD passes covering 51, 35, and 79 yards.  The completions were to Chase Bootsma, Michael Gunnink, and Dylan Luce, respectively. 

When Schultz wasn’t filling the airwaves with TD passes, Amundson was taking care of business on the ground.  The bruising senior runner scored on runs of 1, 2, 1, and 7 yards—but he wasn’t done.  Coach Andrew Fleischman calls on Amundson in short-yardage situations, so fans have witnessed his strength.  But what about Amundson’s speed?  On his final carry of the evening, he demonstrated he’s got some pretty good wheels under that heavy-duty body.  He blasted through the line of scrimmage at Edgerton’s 45-yard line and accelerated.  WWG defenders tried to arm tackle him, but they grabbed a lot of nothing as Amundson made a beeline for the end zone, swatting away would-be tacklers like us commoners swat away tiny, pesky, no-see-um insects.  By the time the Chargers corraled Amundson, he had crossed the goal line for the final six points of the night, and his fifth touchdown of the game. 

Despite the shootout-like atmosphere of this game, the Dutchmen did get great defensive plays.  Bootsma had an interception and a big fumble recovery that led to a touchdown.  Freshman Michael Gunnink was named the Insurance Services and KDWC Radio Player of the Game for his defensive backfield play.  He gave up a few pounds and a few inches to WWG’s receivers, but Gunnink battled all evening and made some important plays.  He also made a tough 35-yard TD grab while being very well defended.  When asked about that grab by announcer Ross Kreun, Gunnink explained, “It (the ball) landed in my hands.  I caught it.  I thought I was in the end zone.  He (the defender) was trying to drag me down. I was like, ‘I might as well run it in.’” And run it in he did.