Forest Lake makes early touchdown hold up in high school football victory over Eagan

Howie Johnson, Forest Lake's superbly physical junior defensive lineman, stood at about the 20-yard line at one end of the Rangers' home football field, beaming at the throng around him.

Sweat dripped from his strawberry blonde crew cut, a permanent smile plastered across his face.

A rough and rugged 6-4, 260-pound, nearly unblockable beast in the middle of the Forest Lake defense, Johnson has committed to take his myriad skills to the Gophers upon graduation.

But that's still two years away. For now, Johnson's gridiron satisfaction comes from being the biggest, baddest dude on the field in high school.

He was exactly that Friday, leading a punishing Forest Lake defense that stonewalled Class 6A No. 5 Eagan all night, winning a 7-0 decision that didn't earn any points for style but was a thing of beauty to Johnson and his teammates.

"We only had one thing to focus on tonight, and that was shut down the run. And we did that to perfection," said Johnson, who had two tackles for loss and left a litany of bodies in his wake all game.

The game didn't go exactly as Forest Lake coach Brad Beeskow had envisioned, but he was thrilled with the result.

The Rangers (5-2) took the lead early, going 65 yards in 11 plays on their opening drive. Running back Kevin Ndirangu capped the march with a 1-yard dive, and Forest Lake led 7-0 with less than five minutes elapsed.

And that was it for the scoring. The rest of the evening belonged to the Forest Lake defense that Johnson presided over like a proud papa.

Johnson and his football future get the publicity, and Beeskow believes he deserves every bit.

"He's special, absolutely," Beeskow said. "Just to have a kid like him that can go make plays over and over and over but at the same time is so into the details and the technique and what football has to be."

Eagan coach Nick Johnson was philosophical about the loss. The Wildcats (4-3) suffered a major disappointment during the game when an inadvertent whistle by an official negated a 39-yard touchdown, but he was proud of the fight his team showed and considered the game a lesson learned.

"The official apologized, but what can you do?" Johnson said. "Early in the season, our offense was playing well and the defense was struggling a little. Tonight, I thought our defense was great and the offense had trouble getting going. But we've still got some time to put it all together."

Forest Lake took its fourth straight victory, a streak Beeskow credits to the Rangers' blue-collar style. "We're built on what we call the work culture. The only thing you control out here on the field and in your life is how hard you work at everything that you do. These guys buy in to that."