Minneapolis North’s football team just keeps on winning. The Polars, ranked number three in Class 2A, defeated St. Paul Central 37-7 at James S. Griffin Stadium in St. Paul last Saturday afternoon.
Behind the outstanding play of junior quarterback Zach Yeager, sophomore defensive lineman Chester Watley, junior running back Terrance Kamara, junior linebacker David Wylie and sophomore wide receiver Rio Sanders, North improved their record to 6-0.
Yeager capped off a 19-point first period with a three-yard touchdown run. Kamara scored the Polars’ first touchdown with an 85-yard run and added a score from 68 yards out in the second quarter.
Watley scored North’s second touchdown on a 45-yard run in the first period. Sanders ran for a 42-yard score in the third quarter and connected with Wylie for a 21-yard touchdown pass in the final period.
Bryant Virnig scored Central’s only touchdown on a 61-yard run in the fourth period. The game also featured the state’s best high school football coaches in Charles Adams (North) and Scott Howell (Central).
When asked after last season how his football team would be in 2019, Adams appeared to have no concerns. “We will be alright,” he said then of his team. “We will be fine.”
He’s right so far!
Prep Scene spotlight: Jalen Suggs
Jalen Suggs is not only one of the top basketball prospects in the country, but he also ranks as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks.
The 6’4” senior led Minnehaha Academy to its third consecutive Class 2A boys’ basketball crown last March, and led the St. Paul Academy/Minnehaha Academy/Blake (SMB) football team to the Class 4A state football championship last year.
This season Suggs seems to have picked up where he left off, as his outstanding play has SMB at the top of Class 4A state rankings with a 6-0 record with two regular-season games remaining.
So far he has passed for 875 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 388 yards and six scores. Suggs will finish his prep career as one of the best athletes ever in the state of Minnesota.
Former prep athlete update: Jasmyn Martin
After 137 sets and 226 kills in two seasons at the University of Minnesota, in which she also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2018, former Hopkins High School volleyball star Jasmyn Martin is now playing at Florida State University.
The 6’3” junior outside hitter has contributed significantly to the Seminoles’ 9-4 overall record with 90 kills, 20 digs, and 32 blocks.
Martin was a prep All-American at Hopkins and one of the nation’s top players as a senior in 2016.
Beyond the Prep Scene: Gophers volleyball
Regan Pittman (14 kills, four blocks), Taylor Morgan (13 kills, four blocks), Adanna Rollins (12 kills, 12 digs, four blocks), Stephanie Samedy (10 kills, seven digs, three aces, one block), Alexis Hart (nine kills, two blocks), Bayley McMenimen (48 assists, 15 digs, one ace), and Rachel Kilkelly (13 digs, one ace) led the number-seven-ranked University of Minnesota volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Rutgers University last Saturday evening.
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald is a contributing columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.