Photo by Leif Erickson
#2 Chatfield Slips Past Rival Triton on Late Score, Interception
In the ever-rare (though its now happened back-to-back years) state battle between teams in the same sub-district, South-east-White foes #2 in AA Chatfield (Section 1AA Champ, 10-0) played Triton (Section 2AA Champ, 8-2) in the quarterfinals. The Gophers rolled the Cobras in the regular season 33-6. But with much more on the line, Chatfield had to dig deep late to keep their season alive. The Gophers scored on their first drive, going 49 yards in 12 plays. Carson Rowland’s 2-yard TD run made it 6-0. But Triton answered with their next possession. Aided greatly by a Pierce Petersohn 33-yard pass to Christian Valdez-Miranda Jr. on 4th and 3, the Cobras moved the ball to the two yard-line. Valdez-Miranda ran it in two-plays later. Triton converted on the PAT to lead 7-6. Those were the only two scores of the first half until the Cobras were forced to punt in the final minute. They then got flagged for a hit on a defenseless receiver, then flagged for a pass interference. The 30 yards of real estate helped Chatfield into the red zone. With 0:01 on the clock, Ross Stoehr kicked a 28-yard field goal to put Chatfield ahead 9-7 at the half. It proved to be a huge three points. The Gophers then came out of halftime with a 13-play, 63-yard drive. Ben Carrier’s 6-yard TD capped it, putting the Gophers up 16-7. But Triton again answered immediately. A 42-yard Petersohn to Kaden Thomas pass play got the series going. The duo then capped things with a 3-yard pitch and catch score. With PAT, Triton pulled to down two at 16-14. After forcing the Gophers to punt, the Cobras had what they hoped would be a U.S. Bank Stadium making drive. They went 90 yards in a whopping 15 plays. Included were two fourth down conversions, a 4th and three hook and lateral that netted 20 yards and a Gopher pass interference call on 4th and eight. Petersohn hit Garet Jensen on a flag route for a 17-yard scoring play. The conversion succeeded, leaving the underdog Cobras up 22-16 with 6:22 left in the game, as time ticked quickly amidst a contest where five of seven scoring drives covered 10-plus plays. The last was Chatfield’s. Trailing, the Gophers calmly turned to their rugged line and running game. Triton’s defense was the definition of bend-but-do-not-break all game. The longest run they surrendered was 18 yards. But said run was done by Rowland eight plays into the Gophers’ final drive. It moved the ball to the Cobra 12. Two plays later, Rowland was essentially allowed to score, which tied the contest 22-22. Stoehr, just a sophomore, then hit the PAT to give the Gophers the lead at 23-22 with 1:14 left. Triton was out of timeouts, but made near midfield before Tobin McMahon made a leaping interception to ice the game and clinch Chatfield its third trip to “The Bank” in four years. Jeff Johnson’s Gophers survived the upset by 23-22 final. Rowland (25-143, 2 TDs rushing) and Carrier (24-105, TD rushing) each topped 100 yards on the ground, but did so notching a still good, but likely season-low 5.1 YPC. Chatfield passed for just two yards. Triton’s offense revolved around the super-athlete Petersohn (16-25, 185 yards, 2 TDs, INT passing), who high jumped 6’8” in the spring in track and field. Thomas (5-71, TD receiving), Jensen (6-44, TD receiving), and Valdez-Miranda Jr. (2-43 receiving, rushing TD) were hit top targets. Triton ran for just 75 yards while the Gophers accumulated 256 on the ground. Second-ranked Chatfield (11-0) moves on to face #10 in AA Staples-Motley (Section 6AA Champ, 11-0), which upset #1 Barnesville 46-44 in two overtimes in another quarterfinal.
#5 Cardinals Blast Renville County West to Make State Semifinals
Sometimes, even state level games are completely uncompetitive. Unranked Renville County West (Section 2 Champion, 8-3) versus #5 LeRoy-Ostrander/Lyle/Pacelli (Section 1 Champ, 11-0) in the state quarterfinals was one of those times. The Jaguars were overmatched, even with the Cardinals racking up a bunch of penalties. L-O/L/P got flagged 13 times for 80 yards for the game (albeit, they were only penalized twice after halftime). But Trevor Carrier’s group also scored 34 first half points to lead 34-0 at the break on the way to a 50-0 win. Renville County West amassed just 140 yards of total offense, miniscule for 9-Man. Seventy-two of those yards came on two plays. On the flip side, L-O/L/P’s Camden Hungerholt eclipsed that yardage both running and throwing the ball. The elusive senior speedster compiled 467 yards total offense. He ran for 303 and four touchdowns on 23 carries and completed 13 of 22 passes for 164 yards and three more TDs. Carter Sweeney caught a team-best eight passes for 111 yards and a score. Ryder Stern caught two passes, both for scores (7 and 15 yards). Defensively, Stern had a team-best 10 total tackles and a sack for the game. Tyson Stevens had a nice first half with a couple TFLs and an interception. The Cardinal defense gave up a 48-yard run and a 25-yard pass, but also racked up 10 plays for loss. Reid Hungerholt joined Stevens in intercepting Jaguar senior quarterback Austin Rice (7-26, 41 yards, 2 INTs passing). Jacob Sevig (9-46 rushing; 5-29 receiving) was Renville’s top yardage getter. The Cardinals (12-0) move on to U.S. Bank Stadium and a semifinal date with #3 Fertile-Beltrami (Section 6 Champion, 11-0). The last three years, F-B’s season has come to an end versus Section 1 foes at state, Kingsland 36-28 in 2023 in the semifinals, Spring Grove 27-6 in 2022 in the semifinals, and LeRoy-Ostrander 58-8 in 2021 in the finals.