Former Wayzata High School Football Stars Win National Title Game

A few former Plymouth and Lake Minnetonka area prep football players can now call themselves national champions.

Paul Cornick, Grant Olson and Boe Andersen are all members of the 2011-2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship Series Champion North Dakota State Bison. They're among the 17 players on the Bison roster from the Twin Cities great metor area. The Bison (14-1) defeated Sam Houston State 17-6 Jan. 7 for the title in Frisco, Tex.

"You learn right way when you get to North Daktao State that the tradition is large and you're playing for whoever puts the the uniform on," Cornick said in a press conference prior to the game.

Cornick, a senior offensive lineman form Orono, helped the Bison offense pull off a pair of touchdowns against a stingy Sam Houston State (14-1) defense. Bison running back D.J. McNorton scampered 39 yards on a screen pass for a score and quarterback Brock Jensen punched in a score from the goal line.

The Bison won their first-sever FCS championship after moving up from Division II in 2004. It also ended a 21-year title drought for the Bison, which now has nine national championships since 1965.

"Everything you do, everything that we accomplish can all be looked back [at] and see the efforts from everybody before us. And we're all family," Cornick said. "Once a Bison always a Bison. So, we're doing it for them too."

Cornick, an FCS Associated Press All-American, played prep football at Orono. He had 16 sacks and 141 tackles as a junior and senior with the Spartans.

Olson, a former standout, can add a college championship to his trophy case. He also helped the Trojans win a state title in 2008.

Olson, a sophomore, plays second string at linebacker for the Bison and recorded 44 tackles during the season. He had eight tackles in their 35-7 drubbing of Georgia Southern in the semifinals on Dec. 17. He saw some playing time in Jan. 7 title game.

Anderson, a senior offensive guard from Wayzata, is listed on the Bison roster and has seen some playing time during his career with the Bison. He moved up to the Bison in 2009 after playing at North Dakota State College of Sciences in 2008. He played prep football at Minnetonka where he earned all-state honors.

The Bison and Bearkats had met before in 2007 and 2009. Both games had been offensive shootouts decided by three points, but Cornick and company knew they needed a different approach on Saturday. The Bearkats won the last meeting 48-45 in 2009.

"It's definitely brought to our attention how that game went, lots of points in that game," Cornick said. "I use it for motivation."

The Bison held a Bearkat team that averaged 39.1 points per game to just six. In addition, the Bearkats mustered 210 total yards instead of their usual 300-plus yards per game.

The win also completed a postseason run that came after making the quarterfinals in their first FCS playoff appearance in 2010. The Bison lost to eventual national champion Eastern Washington.

"Everybody bought in after that," Cornick said of his team. "We got a taste of the postseason, the experience of the games. There was nothing like it. And we knew what we wanted to do, and we knew what had to do."

They did just that on Jan. 7.