Storrusten shines at all-star game

Published 02:27 p.m., July 2, 2009

Tydan Storrusten proved he can play with the big-boys — and still dominate.

As the starting quarterback for the Outstate all-stars in the annual Minnesota High School All-Star football game, the recent Pelican Rapids graduate accounted for half of his team’s touchdowns and almost three-quarters of the passing yards last Saturday.

In all, he tossed for exactly 100 yards, threw one touchdown and ran for another 16 yards — just for good measure.

The players lining up against him hailed from schools like Minnetonka that have more students (2,698) than Pelican Rapids has citizens (2,321).

Intimidated?

No way.

“There was some really, really good players (on the other team),” Storrusten said of the Metro squad that includes student-athletes from the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. “But I wasn’t intimidated or anything. It was just a lot of fun. I met a lot of people and made some friends.”

One of the friends Storrusten made was Mankato West receiver Aaron Richter, who snared a 15-yard touchdown pass from him late in the first quarter.

“He’s a great athlete,” Storrusten said of Richter. “We had the ball inside the 20 and I went back and just threw it up on a fade. I just gave him a chance to catch the ball, and he did (for a touchdown).”

Storrusten, who played the first and third quarters, kept the Outstate team in the game until early in the second half when the Metro squad reeled off four unanswered touchdowns and ran away with a 54-13 victory.

“There is a lot of pride in this game,” Storrusten said. “We didn’t win, but we stayed competitive for the first half. Things just got out of hand a little in the second half.”

For many players in the event, the annual gridiron battle at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud is a prelude to a college career.

For Storrusten, however, it was likely the last time he’ll play in a competitive football game in his life.

Storrusten, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 190 pounds, will play basketball next season at Northern State University, one of the strongest NCAA Division II programs in the nation.

“It was a really tough decision (which sport to play in college),” Storrusten said. “I got some looks for football, but in the end, I just went with my gut feeling.”

Northern State, located in Aberdeen, S.D., plays in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference which also includes schools like Minnesota State-Moorhead, St. Cloud State, Winona State and Minnesota-Duluth, just to name a few.

Storrusten’s future coach, Don Meyer, is the winningest college coach of all time and one of the most well-respected men in his profession. Meyer’s instructional video tapes called “Building a Championship Program” are utilized by major college basketball programs like Duke, North Carolina and Kansas as well as several NBA franchises.

“He’s a great guy,” Storrusten said. “I really liked the place on my visit too.”

Storrusten, of course, led Pelican Rapids to the Class 2A state basketball championship, scoring 34 points in the title game and averaging 25 points per game in the Vikings’ unbeaten season.

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