64th Sno-Bowl ends in a 0-0 Tie

Saturday’s 64^th annual confrontation between the Polars and Ptarmigans in the New Prague Sno-Bowl was a game to be remembered by the high school alumni who played.  There was no snow cover at Memorial Park to cushion the landing or slow down runners or tacklers.  The game temperature was around 32 degrees with a slight wind.   Although the game speed was fast due to the lack of snow, neither team was able to put the ball in the endzone and for the fifth time in Sno-Bowl History the game ended in a 0-0 tie. 

On the first drive of the game it appeared that the polars would strike early.  Ryan Haugen dropped back to pass and threw a deep fade to a wide open Andy Zweber hitting him in stride. Unfortunately for the Polars the ball bounced off his hands onto the ground making Zweber an early candidate for the Goat award.  Gaige Giles produced most of the Polar offense during the game with several long runs.  Zack Shetka was also used out of the backfield and used some shifty moves to move the chains more than a few times during the game. 

Ptarmigan Quarterback Austin Weinandt would see similar results on his first drive.  The Ptarmigans moved the ball well with a running attack featuring Kevin Korbel.  Late on the first drive Weinandt would throw deep to Jacob Vaughan who also had a ball on third and long bounce off his hands to stall the drive. 

Although both offenses moved the ball the real story of the game were the defenses that were always able to come up with big stops in the redzone.  The Ptarmigan defensive line featured Jake Schoenecker, James Fuerniss, Tony Beranek, Tyler Lund and Alex Eide.  They came up with several sacks in big situations.   Michael Coldagelli and Darrell Christianson led the Ptarmigans in tackles.  In the secondary both Michael Eide and Aric Becker repeatedly broke up passes.

The Polar defense was just as stout led by Nate and Kyle Zweber at linebacker.  Zack Dubanoski, Andy McGannon and Sam Lancaster produced a massive wall on the defensive line that made running very difficult.  Travis Wick produced to big plays to stall Ptarmigans drives with both a fumble recovery and an interception. 

With both teams struggling to move the ball the Ptarmigans went with a trick play late in the game.   They ran the Philly Special and had James Fuerniss run a reverse and throw back to Weinandt down the sideline, however the Polar defense sniffed it out and it only resulted in a 15 yard gain.  The game ended 0-0 and with out injuries.  The Officials for the game were Bob Connelly, Andy Tupy, and Tom Chromy. The owners of the Ptarmigans are Evan Beranek, Alex Eide and Ben Buthe.  Polar Owners are Ryan Haugen, Zack Shetka and Zack Dubanoski.

  Awards were handed out at City Club after the game.  Andy Tupy and Mike Sticha were honored and named to the Sno-Bowl Hall of Fame.  Kevin Korbel was the MVP, Michael Coldagelli was the Defensive MVP, Gaige Giles was the Offensive MVP & Rookie of the Year, Brady Loose was the Lineman of the Year, and Pat Ryan earned the Goat Award.