A magical ride continued Friday for the Spring Lake Park football team, which won just four games each of the last two seasons but will play for the Class 5A state title next weekend after a 39-23 semifinal victory over St. Thomas Academy at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Trailing by five points at halftime, the Panthers exploded for 20 points in fewer than eight minutes to begin the third quarter. Spring Lake Park running back Lamari Brown rushed 29 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Nolan Roach carried 14 times for 205 yards and two touchdowns and E.J. Monluo ran twice for 48 yards and a touchdown.
The Panthers (12-0) intercepted two passes, recovered an onside kick and executed a successful fake punt. They will face the winner of Saturday’s Elk River vs. Chanhassen semifinal.
St. Thomas Academy coach Travis Walch tipped his cap to an opponent which last won a state title in 1991.
“You can’t give up a possession on special teams, whether it’s a fake punt or an onsides kick; you’re not going to win those games and that’s squarely on my shoulders,” said Walch, whose 11-1 team allowed the Panthers nearly 400 yards of offense.
“I don’t think anyone thought we’d hold them to 100 yards, but we thought we’d protect the ball… and play really good special teams. Sometimes, you just have to say the other team did a really good job.”
John Stewart, Spring Lake Park’s eighth-year coach, said it was evident during the offseason that his 30 seniors were tired of slipshod preparation. Not only did they work harder and smarter, they paid attention to smaller details, such as arraying themselves in perfectly straight lines for drills.
“They came in with a different attitude to our discipline,” Stewart said. “It became about doing the little things right and then momentum kept building.”
St. Thomas Academy’s second snap of the third quarter led to quarterback Tristan Karl throwing a slant well behind his intended receiver and Spring Lake Park’s Marcus Snyder intercepting the ball, returning it 26 yards for a touchdown.
An attempted 2-point conversion failed, but the Panthers led 18-17. Sam Wolde’s subsequent, onsides kick slithered along the turf and up the body of Cadet George Plum. He was flattened by Sawyer Thomsen a split second later, allowing Travis Holby to recover.
“We’ve been pretty aggressive over the years,” said Stewart, who had his team go for it four times on fourth down Friday, with two of those attempts resulting in first downs. “We have a special-teams coordinator who puts together some amazing fakes and different kick strategies and is great at calling them at opportune times.
“In a game like this, you’ve gotta take some chances.”
Spring Lake Park then ran the ball six consecutive times, the last a 25-yard touchdown on a pitchout from Roach to Monluo, who beat Todd Rogalski to the pylon on the right side. Wolde’s extra point put his team up 25-17 fewer than four minutes into the third quarter.
The Panthers pulled away after forcing a three-and-out on the Cadets’ next possession. Four more running plays brought another touchdown, this one a 5-yard dash up the middle by Brown, who somersaulted over the goal line. Wolde’s kick made it 32-17.
St. Thomas Academy cut its deficit to 32-23 after Rogalski’s 7-yard touchdown run with five minutes remaining. The Cadets recovered an onsides kick of their own, but a Rogalski pass off an end-around handoff was intercepted by Jamal Smith to effectively end any thought of a comeback.
Roach completed 3 of 8 passes for 30 yards and Karl hit on 8 of 14 attempts for 109 yards. St., Thomas Academy rushing standout Dominic Baez was held to 47 yards and a touchdown in 15 carries.
Rogalski carried seven times for 104 yards and two touchdowns, and caught three passes for 11 yards. Baez hauled in two tosses for 70 yards.
“Our maturity level has increased dramatically over the last eight months,” said Roach, whose hair, like that of many of his teammates, is bleached blond for the postseason. “When we’re down, we stick with it and we’re able to finish (games) so much better than in previous years.”
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