On another successful round of playoffs that saw three of the four local football teams advance, Town Square Television had a long day on Super Saturday. We rolled into Richfield for the 1:00 South St. Paul/Holy Angels game at 10am and then headed over to West St. Paul for the St. Croix Lutheran semifinal at 7:00. Here’s how the semifinals shook out.
SECTION 3AAAA:
#4 Simley 6 @ #1 Saint Thomas Academy 42
After dropping 49 and rolling over St. Louis Park, the Spartans had to head over to Mendota Heights to take on one of the top teams in Class AAAA. The Cadets wasted no time and took advantage of some costly Simley turnovers. Nick Waldvogel rushed for two touchdowns and Danny McManus returned an interception 40 yards for a score to put the Cadets on top 21-0 after the first quarter. Paddy Clancy returned a punt 83 yards for a TD and STA got two more scores on the ground from Keegan Zimprich and Hootie Hubbell. Simley would avoid the shutout late and get one last touchdown for the year when Nick Wanzek hooked up with Cody Hazelett from 20 yards out. Simley finished the season at 4-6.
#3 South St. Paul 50 @ #2 Holy Angels 20
This game looked like one of the top semifinal games in the state on Saturday, until South St. Paul took over and changed that. Holy Angels QB Sam Keis led the Stars down the field to score on the opening possession, but it was all Packers from there. South St. Paul racked up points in a hurry over the next 4:00 minutes as they clicked all day on all three facets of the game. After a Sam Sura touchdown, the Packer defense came out on the field and took Keis down in the end zone for a safety. Reid Bjorkland took the ensuing punt 64 yards to the house and suddenly it was 16-7. Holy Angels responded with a score to cut the lead to two, but three more Sura touchdowns iced this one for the Packers. Harrison Rund added touchdown passes to Jack Pietruszewski and Steven Miller to get South St. Paul to the half-century mark. It was truly an impressive win as the Packers played nearly flawless football to advance to the section final with Saint Thomas Academy for the third straight year.
SECTION 4AAA:
#4 Minnehaha Academy 7 @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran 62
In the late game of the TST doubledip, the #1 team in all of Class AAA hosted the 6-3 Red Hawks. The Crusaders wasted no time as Jackson Goplen took a handoff 83 yards to pay dirt on the third play of the game. Goplen added touchdown runs of 45 and 3 yards on the next two possessions to put this one away early. Wesley Tucker got in the end zone twice, once from 71 yards, and Matt Olson had two nice scoring runs as well. Even backup QB David Ponath did his best Olson impression, zigging and zagging his way for a 30 yard score late. St. Croix has now scored 50+ points in five straight games, and have scored over 60 in both playoff contests. St. Anthony beat Concordia in the other semifinal to earn a second crack at the Crusaders.
Section Final Preview:
3AAAA:
#3 South St. Paul (9-1) @ #1 Saint Thomas Academy (9-0)
As great as the Packers looked on Saturday, the Cadets have owned this section over the past half decade. Until someone can prove otherwise, I like Saint Thomas Academy to get to state again. However, South St. Paul has proved that they are one of the best teams in Class AAAA and this should be an outstanding game.
4AAA:
#2 St. Anthony (8-2) @ #1 St. Croix Lutheran (10-0)
In Week 7, St. Croix rushed for over 650 yards and beat St. Anthony by 40. Get out of the way Huskies, the Crusaders have work to do at state.
