| 2009 |
The season started with a convincing win (38-12) at Fargo North, a team that was outmanned by the Skippers. Then, however, Tonka ran into Wayzata and Hopkins, and lost 28-0 to the Trojans and 31-30 to the Royals. Wayzata's strong defense shut out the Tonka offense in game #2, and Hopkins' last-second field goal defeated the Skippers in game #3.
However, Tonka responded with a seven-game winning streak following those two losses, putting them in the section finals with an 8-2 record against #1-ranked Eden Prairie, 9-0. As part of that winning streak, the team avenged their two early-season losses by defeating the state's now #1-ranked team, Wayzata, in game #8, 3-0, in a fierce defensive struggle on a windy and frigid night at Wayzata Stadium. The regulation game ended 0-0 leading to overtime. Tonka cornerback and captain, Zach Siemens, kicked a 22-yard field goal to put the Skippers ahead 3-0 in their overtime possession. Then Wayzata lost a yard or two on their first two overtime running plays, leading to a pass into the endzone on third down. In maybe the most memorable play of the season for Minnetonka, sophomore safety, Charles Webb, came up from behind Wayzata TE, AJ Tarpley (who would eventually be selected as the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year), to intercept the throw and seal the victory for the Skippers.
Minnetonka went on to also defeat Hopkins in round two of the playoffs, 31-21 at Royals Stadium, to advance to the section finals against Eden Prairie, where the season ended with a thud against a strong Eagles team, 38-7.
But for Tonka, the season felt like a success. Their record of 8-3 was the best since the state championship team of '04, and the team could take pride in the fact that they rebounded from two early-season losses to defeat both Wayzata and Hopkins late in the season. During their seven-game winning streak, Tonka also shut out two undefeated teams on the road during the process; in fact, these were the largest high schools in their respective states: Stevens Point, ranked #3 in Wisconsin, and Wayzata, ranked #1 in Minnesota). Together, the '09 team became "The Avengers".
| 2008 |
The team got off to a great start as they hosted Rochester Mayo and put up 48 points on the Spartans. Running back Paris White began his senior year by gaining over 100 yards on the ground, and junior quarterback Tom Ahrens began his varsity career by throwing for 119 yards and two TD's. Taylor Nelson, a three-year starter at tight end also got off to a good start by catching a 30-yard scoring pass.
Game two, however, proved to be a disappointment. The offense struggled against an outstanding Wayzata defense, losing 24-7. In fact, Wayzata would eventually prove to be the class of Minnesota football 2008 as they would defeat Blaine, 27-7, to finish 13-0 and win the 2008 Prep Bowl.
However, the schedule-makers were not kind to the team this year, as they struggled to "Break the Rock" in games five and six against two straight defending state champions, Eden Prairie (Minnesota) and Kansas City Rockhurst (Missouri). The team's record fell to 4-3.
The Skippers bounced back with a vengeance against Armstrong and Chaska, scoring 101 points in those two games, but their season was ended prematurely by Hopkins in round two of the playoffs, when the Royals kicked a field goal with six seconds to play to steal a victory at Minnetonka, 24-21. The sudden, and unexpected loss, left the east side of Einer Anderson Stadium strangely silent, as they realized the season was over, and there would be no rematch with the state's number-one ranked Eden Prairie Eagles for the Section title. Tonka's final record, 6-4.
| 2007 |
A turning point possibly came early in the season. After winning game one against a good Rochester Mayo squad, Minnetonka faced their rival, Wayzata. The Skippers scored on a 42-yard pass from Nate Adams to Josh Allen with 2:46 left in the game to pull within two, 23-31. Then Jordan Sichting recovered a fumble in Trojan territory, but Greg Fleming's 33-yard field goal try with 56 seconds remaining was wide by about a foot. Game over.
Minnetonka rebounded by winning the next two games, but then ran into the teeth of their schedule, and lost three in a row, all to undefeated teams (Edina, Eden Prairie, and Kansas City Rockhurst). Two of them eventually became state champions (Eden Prairie - MN and Rockhurst - MO).
Edina, now 10-0, finished the Skippers' season with their second victory over Minnetonka in round two of the section tournament, 21-13. So close…yet so far. Minnetonka finished 5-5.
| 2006 |
QB Jack Paul led Minnetonka with both his arm and his legs, rushing for 597 yards and throwing for an almost identical 592 yards for the season. Minnetonka's running game featured a host of running backs who contributed almost equally to the cause: Eric McCleary, Matt Boys, Eric Schmidt, Andy Samborski, and sophomore, Ismail Karon, while the defense was led by linebacking brothers, David and Jason Goebel.
Minnetonka's season came to an untimely end when they met Eden Prairie in round two of the section playoffs at the Eagles' stadium. Eden Prairie played a smothering defense that night and prevented the Skippers from scoring until late in the game, winning 31-7, and going on to win the Prep Bowl.
Minnetonka again finished 7-3, a good record, but not what "the Contenders" had hoped for.
| 2005 |
Minnetonka "battled back" well from that loss to win seven of their next eight games and find themselves 7-2 going into the section semifinals at Bloomington Jefferson. QB Jack Paul directed a high-scoring offense in 2005, averaging over 37 points a game for the eight games following their opening loss. Jalon Hopkins returned from an all-state performance in 2004 to continue his brilliant running, but his ankle injury in the Wayzata game forced him to miss two games and possibly never be the same the rest of the season.
The Jefferson game was a bitter disappointment for the Skippers. They expected Jefferson to be an excellent passing team, but they did not expect to fall behind so quickly and fail to respond. The final score was 35-6, and the 2005 season was history.
"The Battlers" seemed to run out of gas. It was one of those games where nothing went their way, and it was just Jefferson's time. Tonka finished 7-3.
|
2004 State Champs |
The Coaches believed and more importantly, the returning players believed the team motto "Whatever It Takes". Still when the squad came down the hill to open the season on the new artificial turf field on September 3, 2004, not many fans had any idea what was coming their way.
The first game was very tough and an omen of things to come as we defeated White Bear Lake, a team that would subsequently go very far in the State playoffs that year. In the game against our long time rival, Hopkins Royals, the Skippers exploded offensively with almost 500 total yards. Sam Buckman, also set a school record with the longest field goal in history - 46 yards.
Tonka ended the regular season with a record of 7-1. We defeated White Bear Lake, Hopkins, Cretin Derham Hall, Edina, Wayzata, Cooper, and St. Louis Park. The only loss in the regular season was against Armstrong. During the post season, Tonka defeated Bloomington, Eden Prairie, John Marshall, Champlin Park and finally Wayzata again in the state championship.
In our first State Semi-finals, Tonka faced the undefeated top ranked Section 7 Rebels of Champlin Park. In probably the most flawless game that Minnetonka ever played, Champlin never had a chance. The Rebels, caved as Coach Mike Korton said "our whole sideline went quiet".
Who would have guessed that our arch rival, Wayzata, would emerge from Section 6 to play us in the Prep Bowl for the State Championship. The game was expected to feature the defenses, it was anything but that with both teams rolling up a Prep Bowl record of 842 yards of offense. Tonka alone ran and passed for a record 519 yards. Trailing 13-14 in the fourth quarter and facing third and fifteen from our own 40 yard line, Tonka moved the ball 31 yards setting up a Tonka field goal and the lead, 16-14. Taking a commanding lead, 23-14, after a 72 yard touchdown, Tonka held Wayzata on fourth and five on our 25 yard line. It was 12:30 a.m. and the 'huge' Tonka crowd went absolutely ballistic as the final gun went off.
The State Championship represented the first football title in Tonka's long and storied history and was accomplished in Coach Nelson's third season at Minnetonka. The accolades flowed in for the team and coaches including five college signings.
| 2003 |
In Coach Nelson's second season at Tonka, the Skippers got off to a strong start beating a good Irondale squad 48-17 in our first meeting ever. WE played our highlight game of the year in front of a standing-room only homecoming crowd beating perennial cross-lake rival Wayzata 20-15 in our 54th meeting between these two old foes. We defeated Edina in a romp 47-7, the worst beating from us in our long historic rivalry.
Finishing second in the conference to Armstrong, we drew Prior Lake in the first round of the Section 2 playoffs and won 38-21. We then beat Jefferson to go on to 8 wins, 2 losses and the number 8 ranking in the AP Minnesota poll. This was the farthest advance into the playoffs Tonka had ever made and only in Coach Nelson's second year. Although the boys fell 21-35 in the class 5A Section 2 Championship game at the Eden Prairie, they put a real scare into Mike Grant's squad leading 21-14 at halftime.
| 2002 |
The coaching staff included several past Tonka head coaches (George Soukup, Walt West, etc.) who continue to help at Freshman, Sophomore and JV levels as well as Varsity Tonka Alumni such as Gary Radziej, Tim Hanus, and Chris Cohen and former MAA pioneer John Mattox (56 year coaching career!).
Tonka football experienced a resurgence winning 5 games and losing 4, including our final 2AAAA quarterfinal loss to Burnsville 14-17. Tonka went from one victory last season to five this year including wins over Highland Park, Armstrong, Hopkins, Cooper and St. Louis Park. We jumped from the bottom of the Classic Lake conference to third this season, a major accomplishment given the short preparation time for the new regime. We put the league on notice that we were on the rise again.
| 2001 |
Although the team finished with a 1-8 won/loss record, the players kept their spirits high with strong confidence and determination. This fall marked the end of the longest coaching tenure in the MHS history as 18-year Head Coach Myles Ginther decided to step down. Myles took a program in disarray and made it competitive again.
| 2000 |
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