3 days Ago By Pat Ruff
HOUSTON — The root cause of the Houston football team losing four of its last five games one year ago is traceable. It coincided with an injury, standout running back Maddox Rodriguez suffering a broken leg in a 46-6 victory against Mabel-Canton, then being shelved the rest of the season. Rodriguez was that vital to the Hurricanes’ attack.
ADVERTISEMENT Staying healthy has been the 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior's biggest challenge in football. He broke his thumb as a sophomore, also causing him to miss a bunch of games. But when he’s healthy, look out.
Rodriguez was certainly feeling good Friday night as the Hurricanes took on No. 9-ranked Mabel-Canton. The Cougars entered the night 2-0, both of those lopsided wins.
Houston was a frustrated 0-2. Mabel-Canton is unbeaten no more. It can blame Rodriguez in large part for that.
He ran all over the Cougars, finishing with an incredible 344 yards rushing with touchdown gallops of 95, 78, 81 and 58 yards. “That was my highest total in a game since last year against LeRoy-Ostrander, when I ran for 200 yards,” Rodriguez said. “I never thought I’d get that high of a total.
I especially didn’t think I’d do it on so few carries.” That is another jaw dropping aspect of what Rodriguez pulled off. He got those 344 yards on just eight carries, giving him a ridiculous 43 yards per try.
When a running back has that many long touchdown runs, it’s presumed that he’s doing it with raw speed. That presumption is not accurate with Rodriguez. In fact, Houston coach Cody Hungerholt kids him about his lack of elite speed.
ADVERTISEMENT Rodriguez does his damage instead with vision, cutting ability and a willingness to stiff arm his opponents or just plain run over them. Rodriguez lives for physical football. It serves him well as a running back, as a single defender can rarely take him down.
“Most of the time, I stiff arm them or just run over them,” said Rodriguez, a linebacker on defense. “I get a lot of joy from running over people. I love the physical aspect of football.
Hitting hurts a lot less on offense than tackling on defense.” Rodriguez isn’t ready to take all of the credit for his big night. Instead, he immediately points to his offensive line.
He says they opened some gaping holes for him. He simply ran through them. M-C defenders gave chase a few times, but never could catch Rodriguez, despite his lack of sprinter speed.
The Houston senior said he wouldn’t test out particularly well in a sprint. But when the pads are on, the football is under his arm and he sees a big opening, he finds a new gear. “When people are chasing me, I feel like I run a lot faster,” Rodriguez said.
ADVERTISEMENT Houston coach Cody Hungerholt has a deep appreciation for what he’s getting out of Rodriguez. That includes him having scored 12 touchdowns in just three games. He says Rodriguez has some unique skills.
“He’s just a good runner,” Hungerholt said. “He’s not overly fast, but he has a great stiff arm and he knows how to make people miss in the open field. He’s just got a really good feel for things and good vision.
Plus, rarely does the first guy bring him down.” Stewartville did the almost unimaginable, scoring 24 points on Friday night against Zumbrota-Mazeppa in the first 1 minute, 9 seconds of the second quarter. The Tigers scored on a touchdown pass, then added the two-point conversion.
They then had an interception return for a touchdown and another two-point conversion, then recovered an onside kick, turned it into a touchdown and again made good on a two-point conversion. Yep, all of that took 1:09. That’s a record.
It has to be. ADVERTISEMENT Stewartville scored 38 second-quarter points en route to a 38-0 halftime lead. The Tigers won the game 51-0 to improve to 3-0.
1. Cam Hungerholt, Le Roy-Ostarnder/Lyle-Pacelli Hungerholt is practically a fixture in this top spot. He does wildly productive things each and every game.
On Friday, he passed for 303 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 282 yards and a touchdown. It came in a 46-26 win over sturdy Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons. 2.
Maddox Rodriguez, Houston Rodriguez has had trouble staying healthy the past two years or more people would likely be familiar with him. There has been lots of missed time. But when he’s out there, look out.
The senior running back rushed for an incredible 344 yards on Friday in a 60-20 win over No. 9 state ranked Mabel-Canton. He had touchdown runs of 95, 78, 81 and 58 yards.
Rodriguez got his 344 yards on just eight carries. That’s 43 yards per carry. Forty three! 3.
Isaiah Beale, Mayo In two of Mayo’s three games this season, Beale has been a dazzler. On Friday in a heartbreaking loss to Farmington, he romped for 203 yards and three touchdowns, the latter on runs of 19, 45 and 20 yards. Beale already has nine TDs.
ADVERTISEMENT 4. Markes Simpson, John Marshall With star receiver Eli Ladu out for a few weeks with a dislocated elbow, the Rockets needed someone to step up at that position. Simpson took on that challenge in a 28-6 win over Northfield on Friday.
He had three catches for 116 yards, all three grabs going for touchdowns. He scored on receptions of 76, 10 and 30 yards, helping the Rockets to a 3-0 start this season. 5.
Brady Kittelson, Blooming Prairie Kittelson is the ultimate dual-threat quarterback. He was back at it on Friday as the Blossoms took apart previously unbeaten Wabasha-Kellogg, Kittelson running and passing Blooming Prairie to a 49-23 win. Kittelson had 161 yards passing and two touchdowns on 9-for-16 accuracy, and ran for 104 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
(Editor's note: These rankings are considered "pound-for-pound" rankings, similar to many rankings systems in boxing and mixed martial arts. They represent the best teams in southeastern Minnesota, relative to the class they play in.) 1.
LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli (3-0) The Cardinals are ranked just seventh in the state, but it feels like they should be higher than that. Led by do-everything quarterback Cam Hungerholt, they are a handful. L-O/L-P is averaging 45 points per game and has not had an easy early schedule.
Among their wins was a season-opening victory against powerhouse Kingsland. ADVERTISEMENT 2. Chatfield (3-0) Chatfield did some serious proving on Friday night.
The Gophers did it with a 20-13 win against Caledonia, the No. 1-ranked team in the state in Class 2A. Chatfield entered ranked sixth in Class 2A.
The Gophers might be sitting with their best offensive line ever. They also have an effective quarterback. Carson Rowland completed 8 of 13 passes against Caledonia for 133 yards and a touchdown.
And the Gophers can play defense. They’ve allowed 7, 7 and 13 points in their first three games. 3.
Stewartville (3-0) The Tigers are 3-for-3. They’ve played three times and nobody has come close to the defending Class 3A state champion. That includes a 48-6 win over formidable Kasson-Mantorville.
Stewartville’s best strength is its literal strength up front. 4. Caledonia (2-1) There is no shame in losing to Chatfield, which the Warriors did on Friday night.
Caledonia will face another stiff test in just a few more days when it hosts run-heavy and lethal Cannon Falls. The Bombers are 3-0 and ranked fifth in Class 2A. 5.
Kingsland (2-1) Ever since Kingsland lost its opener to the top team in our power rankings, LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle-Pacelli, nobody has come close to the Knights. It will be a surprise if Kingsland and the Cardinals don’t meet again, in the eventual section state-qualifying game. But there is a bunch of football to be played first.
6. Cannon Falls (3-0) Cannon Falls keeps running over its foes, as it’s done for years under coach Dan Meyers. But don’t lose track of the stout defense that the Bombers also play under him.
Cannon Falls is allowing just 10 points per game. 7. Blooming Prairie (3-0) The hunch was that Blooming Prairie would get a bit of a test against upstart and previously unbeaten Wabasha-Kellogg.
That didn’t happen. It was just too much Brady Kittelson for the Falcons to handle. The quarterback passed for 161 yards (9-for-16) and two touchdowns, and ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
Blooming Prairie travels to play fellow unbeaten Goodhue on Friday, Sept. 20. 8.
John Marshall (3-0) This is unfamiliar territory for the John Marshall football team, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2015. The Rockets ran their record to 3-0 with a 28-6 victory at Northfield. Things are going to get really interesting on Sept.
20, when the Rockets host explosive Mankato East. JM’s defense has been swarming so far. 9.
Goodhue (3-0) The Wildcats have ridden a defense that has been second to none in Section One, Class 1A. Goodhue has permitted just 4.3 points per game.
It has a star at linebacker in senior Jack Carlson. The Wildcats have a big test coming on Sept. 20 when they host fellow unbeaten Blooming Prairie.
10. Fillmore Central (2-1) Defending section champion Fillmore Central has one loss, that to potent and unbeaten Blooming Prairie, 42-34 in overtime. The Falcons can score points.
They were good for 54 of them in their most recent win, against Faribault Bethlehem Academy..
