Surprising South St. Paul may have been off to its best start since 2016, but that didn’t phase sophomore running back Grady Buettner and his Hill-Murray teammates on Friday night.
Buettner rushed for just over 100 yards and three touchdowns as the Pioneers handed the Packers their first loss of the season, posting a 35-14 victory on Homecoming night at Mary Queen of Victory Stadium.
Hill-Murray improved to 4-1 this season — its lone setback coming against Byron, the top ranked team in Class 4A, on Sept. 12. South St. Paul — tied for No. 8 in the most recent Class 4A poll — fell to 4-1.
Things couldn’t have started in worse fashion for the Packers. After receiving the opening kickoff, they fumbled on their first play from scrimmage when senior quarterback Sincere Casarez-McCampbell was tripped up after taking the snap.
Four plays later, facing a 4th-and-1, Buettner scored on a 7-yard run to put the Pioneers on top 7-0.
On its next possession, Hill-Murray struck again on 4th-and-5 at the South St. Paul 28-yard line. Freshman quarterback Brayden Hartmann connected with sophomore Brady Reeves on a 28-yard scoring strike that extended the lead to 14-0.
Then, after his team got the ball back at the Packers’ 48, Buettner made it 21-0 on a 2-yard touchdown run with 9:29 to play before halftime.
But South St. Paul didn’t fold.
One play after recording an interception, Casarez-McCampbell found senior Ben Thrun breaking free on a 40-yard touchdown catch. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, but the Packers cut the gap to 20-6.
The Pioneers had a chance to widen their lead just before halftime after recovering a fumble at the South St. Paul 21. But a 38-yard field goal attempt with under a second remaining came up short.
Yet, the Hill-Murray offense continued to pile up points in the second half, first on a 3-yard touchdown run by Buettner, then on a 1-yard run by senior Levi Grigson that put the Pioneers on top 35-6 with 46.5 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Senior Jake Baldus added a final South St. Paul touchdown on a 55-yard run with 1:01 left to play.
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