By Jake Schroer
Crow River News Sports
The STMA Knights football team won its first ever state title with a dramatic 28-21 victory over the St. Thomas Academy Cadets Saturday, Nov. 14.
Mitchell Kartes carried the ball 25 times for 147 yards and scored two touchdowns to carry the night offensively.
Both offenses went three and out on their respective opening drives. On the second drive for the Cadets, Will Berning intercepted a pass and gave his team excellent field position at the STA 41.
Kartes caught a pass and took it down to the nine, setting up Eric Sjelin, in his final game as a Knight, for a touchdown run as the Knights struck first for a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
The Knights defense contained the Cadets for the most part. STA used two quarterbacks throughout the game (19-36, 239 yards combined). Tommy Dolan connected on an 83-yard bomb to Mac Brown, who got behind the STMA defense and tied the game 7-7.
The Cadets struck again as Sean McFadden ran for a four-yard score. With the extra point, the Cadets took a 14-7 lead with four minutes left in the first half. Not to be outdone, the Knights marched downfield again and got into the red zone.
STMA appeared to score on a pass to Elijah Rice, but he was ruled down at the goal line. Two plays later, Kartes tied the game with his first touchdown of the night. The Class 5A title game went to half as a stalemate, 14-14.
Isaiah Weston made a mistake on the opening kickoff of the second half, giving the Knights bad field position. STA stopped STMA on three plays, getting the ball back at the Knights 38. However, the Knights got themselves out of a bad situation by recovering a St. Thomas fumble.
For the second time in the game, the Knights found their way down the field off of a turnover. To finish the drive, Jacob Veire and Weston connected on a touchdown for the final time of their careers as Knights. The 25-yard score gave the Knights the lead.
As the game progressed, the STMA defense continued to hold STA in check. The Knights got the ball back and drove into the red zone once more, only for Veire to throw an interception. The defense held yet again, but Kartes limped off the field after returning the following punt. Having already lost Sjelin to an earlier injury, the STMA faithful held their breath.
During the next offensive series, Austin Veire made a sliding grab from his brother for a first down, continuing a big drive for the Knights. STMA worked the ball down to the one yard line just in time for the end of the third quarter.
Leading 21-14, the Knights turned to a returning Kartes, who powered his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night, which gave STMA a 28-14 lead. Kartes said his earlier injury was a cramp in his calf.
“I was trying to play as much as humanly possible in this game because you’ve gotta give it your all when it’s the state finals,” Kartes said.
After scoring, a fired-up Knights defense got a quick three and out. The Cadets, in turn, also got a quick stop on the next drive, giving themselves a chance.
Deep in Cadets territory, the Knights defense got called for pass interference on third down. STA drove down the field and Dolan threw a controversial touchdown pass to Woody Hubbell to bring the Cadets within a touchdown.
The Knights could not sustain a drive, so they punted back to the Cadets at the STA 35 yard line. John Zimmer got sacks on consecutive plays to back STA into a third and 25 situation, and Chance Freeman nearly had an interception on the next play, which made it fourth down.
STMA got the stop and took over with 2:14 left to play. STA got the ball back with one last chance, but the game ended, fittingly, on a sack by Isaiah Nolan. The STMA sideline went crazy. The crowd came unglued.
The STMA Knights finally achieved football immortality.
“I’m really proud of our team for battling back and having some resiliency. I think it speaks to the depth on our team,” head coach Jared Essler said. Essler also said that the teams of the past few years laid the foundation for a culture of hard work and winning.
Kartes said the team will work hard to defend its first ever championship.
“We’re gonna reload and come back, and hopefully we can make it right back here.”
