By John RittenhouseThe Adrian Dragons became victims of an upset during the quarterfinal round of the Section 3A Football Playoffs Tuesday in Adrian.Entertaining seventh-seeded Minneota, a team the Dragons beat in overtime Oct. 3 in Minneota, second-seeded Adrian had to be considered the favorite.The Vikings, however, beat the Dragons 34-16 in the final 29 minutes of the game to earn a berth in Saturday’s section semifinals with a 42-22 victory.Adrian’s season ends with a 7-2 record.The Vikings clobbered the Dragons with a powerful running game that produced five rushing touchdowns in the contest.Minneota quarterback Derek Stripling ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. Backs Steffan Stiklestad and Todd Traen added two and one rushing touchdowns to the winning cause.The Vikings opened the game in dominating fashion by taking the opening kick and driving 63 yards in nine plays with Traen scoring on a 12-yard run.When Stiklestad carried in the two-point conversion, Minneota sported an 8-0 lead at the 8:04 mark of the first quarter.Adrian, which lost the ball on downs on the Minneota 33-yard line to end its first offensive possession of the contest, knotted the score at eight early in the second quarter.The Dragons marched 55 yards in five plays with running back Brandon Wolf scoring on a 20-yard run at the 10:54 mark of the second stanza.Quarterback Levi Bullerman connected with Wolf for a successful conversion pass after the touchdown.Adrian, which was haunted by five turnovers in the game, helped Minneota regain the lead for good before the first half was complete.Traen picked off a pass deep in Adrian territory and returned it to the Dragon 15-yard line at the 9:10 mark of the second period. Four plays later, Stiklestad scored on a three-yard run to give the Vikings a 14-8 advantage.Adrian’s Brett Block intercepted the two-point conversion attempt.Minneota added an improbable touchdown in the final minute of the first half.After receiving the ball on their own 40 with 29 seconds remaining, the Vikings covered 60 yards in three plays.Stripling tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Ufkin to cap the drive with three seconds left in the period, and Stripling carried in the conversion to make it a 22-8 game at the intermission.The Dragons seemed to seize the game’s momentum when they returned the kick to start the second half covering 82 yards for a touchdown. A run for the conversion failed, but Adrian was back in the game after trimming Minneota’s lead to eight points (22-14).Minneota, however, countered with a successful scoring drive with its first possession of the second half and took advantage of four Adrian turnovers in the third and fourth quarters to put the game away.The Vikings mounted a 12-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Stripling scoring on a one-yard run at the 5:30 mark of the third period. The run for a conversion failed, leaving Minneota with a 28-14 advantage.Adrian fumbled the ball during the ensuing kick return, giving the Vikings the ball on the AHS 35.Six plays later, Stripling scored on a one-yard run and tossed a successful conversion pass to Stiklestad to make it a 36-14 game with 3:10 left in the third quarter.The Vikings iced the win when Ricky Peterson intercepted a pass to end an AHS scoring threat.Minneota’s following possession turned into a six-play, 62-yard drive with Stiklestad capping the advance with a one-yard run. The run for a conversion failed, leaving the Vikings with a 42-14 cushion with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter.Adrian did receive a one-yard touchdown run by Wolf and a conversion pass from Bullerman to Anderson at the 3:33 mark of the fourth quarter, but the outcome had been settled by then.Team statisticsAdrian: 120 rushing yards, 105 passing yards, 225 total yards, 14 first downs, five turnovers.Minneota: 300 rushing yards, 43 passing yards, 343 total yards, 15 first downs, one turnover.
