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Freshman linebacker Anthony Taylor celebrates as he crosses the goal line on his 27-yard interception return in the second quarter.
After missing two games due to injury, Lukas Kuehl makes a spectacular return to the field, returning the opening kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, the start of Litchfield's 68-21 win over Richfield Wednesday.
TJ Christensen flies in to sack Richfield quarterback Knut Linne.
It was a romp from start to finish.
Lukas Kuehl took the opening kickoff back 82 yards for a touchdown, and Litchfield just kept piling it on as it rolled to a 68-21 win over Richfield Wednesday at LHS football field.
The win, Litchfield’s seventh in a row, sets up the Dragons with a strong case for the No. 1 seed for the Sectiion 2AAA playoffs. Litchfield is assured of one of the top two seeds, which givies the Dragons a bye in the first round and the right to host the section semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28.
Official seedings will be announced this week, possibly as soon as today. Though three teams — Litchfield, Dassel-Cokato and Rockford — have identical 7-1 records, the Dragons have a head-to-head advantage over D-C, which they beat 14-13 Sept. 30.
The Section 2AAA championship game will be 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, at Buffalo High School.
The Dragons looked to be in playoff shape as they racked up nearly 500 yards of offense against Richfield, which fell to 4-4.
Kuehl, who sat out the previous two games due to injury, had five carries for 86 yards, in addition to the game-opening kickoff return for touchdown, and scored three touchfowns.
Junior running back Brandon Jansky, who’s been a more-than-capable replacement for Kuehl, had a third consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Jansky, who was named an Athlete of the Week by the Star Tribune after running for 234 yards and four touchdowns in the Dragons’ win over Glencoe-Silver Lake last week, carried the ball 11 times for 183 yards and two scores against Richfield.
Litchfield finished with 323 rushing yards and added 170 yards through the air. Quarterback Garrison Jackman completed 5 of 7 passes, four of them for touchdowns — 13 yards to Jack McCann, 69 yards to Ben Olson, 10 to Kuehl and 48 to Ethan Holtz.
Even the Litchfield defense got into the scoring act, with freshman linebacker Anthony Taylor returning a second-quarter interception 27 yards for a touchdown.
The Dragons were up 62-14 at halftime, which prompted an agreement by both coaches to go to running time for the entire second half, by which time most of Litchfield starters were on the sideline watching their backups.
Perhaps the only negative for Litchfield was being whistled for 20 penalties and 180 yards.
