By Jake Schroer
Crow River News Sports
STMA ran for 289 yards in a 36-13 victory over the Monticello Magic in the regular season finale on Wednesday.
Toward the end of the first quarter, Mitchell Kartes ran for a touchdown to give the Knights the lead 7-0.
Later on in the second quarter, the Knights would add to the lead with a 27-yard Mitch Bourgerie field goal. Bourgerie got another chance toward the end of the first half, but missed the kick, and the Knights led 10-0 at the half.
Early in the third, Kartes ran for a five-yard score to extend the lead to 16-0. He added another in the same quarter to make the score 23-0.
Casey Chiodo got Monticello on the board in the fourth quarter with a touchdown, but the Knights answered with a quick scoring drive of their own, culminating in Kartes getting his fourth touchdown of the game.
Desean Phillips capped STMA’s scoring with a nine-yard touchdown run to get the lead to 36-7. The Magic added one more touchdown late, but the Knights came away with the victory and a 7-1 finish overall, good for second place in the Blue division.
Kartes and Bourgerie both finished with hundred-yard games, leading a rushing attack that ran for 289 yards. Phillips added 51. Kartes also had an interception on defense.
“It’s a sign of a good team when one phase of the game can pick up the other, and that happened for us in both halves,” head coach Jared Essler said, calling back to Chiodo’s touchdown and Kartes’ subsequent score.
The Knights received the #2 seed in Section 6-5A. They play Saturday against an opponent yet to be determined. Game time (at the time of publication) is 2 p.m.