SR-R Football Undefeated Going Into Homecoming Game
SAUK RAPIDS -- Friday nights in Sauk Rapids the place to be this fall is at the high school football field. At 5 - 0, the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm are off to their best start in about 30 years.
Their head coach Phillip Klaphake is in his sixth season leading the team. He says this year's squad is led by 21 seniors who are all-around talented athletes.
We probably should have had a better idea that this group was going to have a pretty good chance. I don't know if I could have said we'd be 5 - 0, but this group can win against anybody, we don't feel like there's a team we'll play that won't be competitive.
Klaphake says offensively they have a balanced attack effectively both running and passing the ball, and he says defensively they are very good and playing very fast. The Storm have outscored their opponents 150 to 47.
SR-R scores this season:
9/3 - beat Sartell-St. Stephen 27-0
9/10 - beat St. Cloud Tech 42-21
9/17 - beat Alexandria 27-13
9/24 - beat Cambridge-Isanti 33-7
10/1 - beat Bemidji 21-6
Klaphake says home games this year have had an electric atmosphere.
It has been all year. It's been really cool coming off a year when not many people were in attendance. It's also multiplied by winning and there's some energy behind the team. It's a really good group of kids that their peers like, that our community likes, they like to come watch. We've had a fun environment, it's been loud, our student section has been outstanding.
This Friday is their Homecoming game and their final home game of the regular season. They play St. Francis at 7:00 p.m.
Sauk Rapids-Rice was ranked sixth in the state in Class 5A in this week's poll. They are trying to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2010.
A win this Friday would set them up with a huge showdown next week at Moorhead a team that is also undefeated and currently ranked fourth in the state in Class 5A.
They wrap up the regular season on the road at Monticello.
| Class 5A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| School | Total | Points | Prv |
| 1. Mankato West (7) | (5-0) | 70 | 1 |
| 2. Andover | (5-0) | 60 | 2 |
| 3. St. Thomas Academy | (5-0) | 58 | 3 |
| 4. Moorhead | (4-0) | 49 | 4 |
| 5. Chaska | (5-0) | 43 | 7 |
| 6. Sauk Rapids-Rice | (5-0) | 32 | 9 |
| 7. Spring Lake Park | (4-1) | 27 | 10 |
| 8. Rochester Mayo | (4-1) | 17 | 6 |
| 9. Rogers | (4-1) | 11 | |
| 10. Mahtomedi | (4-1) | 9 | 5 |
Others receiving votes: Robbinsdale Armstrong 4, Mankato East 2, Elk River 1, New Prague 1, Monticello 1,
Sauk Rapids-Rice Football Team
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