The lights for Johnson’s football field were finally operational Wednesday morning, only hours before kickoff against visiting Minneapolis North in the reborn Twin Cities championship game.

The original hope was such illumination would be ready for the season’s start, but at least the Governors’ dozen seniors got to play a home game at night. Sadly for Johnson, that brightness fell upon a 46-0 loss.

J’Marion Sanders caught six passes for 147 yards and four touchdowns. The Polars’ Jeremiah Jackson had three receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Logan Lachermeier completed 11 of 18 passes for 236 yards and five touchdowns and had two tosses intercepted.

Minneapolis North’s Tyshone Jenkins ran 18 times for 184 yards and a touchdown. Teammate Tavin Stoll carried three times for 39 yards and a score.

The Polars led 13-0 after a quarter and 25-0 at halftime. It was 39-0 following the third stanza and onlookers wondered if the final quarter would be contested following a half-hour delay to tend to an injured Johnson player who was taken away by ambulance.

North scored its final touchdown upon the resumption of play and improved to 8-0. Johnson fell to 5-3, its best record under fourth-year head coach Richard Magembe, who inherited a team that had gone 1-7 the year before his arrival.

The Governors now await their seed for the Class 4A, Section 3 tournament.

“We had a solid game plan, but we didn’t execute the way we needed to,” said Magembe, whose team lost at Minneapolis North, 45-18, on Sept. 26.

The Governors were unsure at times what plays or defenses to run. Magembe said that with those 12 outgoing seniors leaving behind only 23 other players, he was trying to get underclassmen some game action.

“We have to try and work in younger guys as much as possible,” he said. “But with youth comes inexperience and with inexperience comes mistakes. Sometimes you’re not sure or confident about what you’re doing, but those are the growing pains for a program like ours.”

Magembe said there was no question in his mind about resuming play after the ambulance departed and stricken relatives of the player inside it drifted off the field.

“An injury can’t scare you from finishing a game,” the coach said. “You can’t send that message to the kids and have them play fearful, because that’s a disservice. It’s a part of the game and I’m proud of our boys for finishing.”

Johnson managed 33 yards rushing and senior quarterback Ali Farfan completed 10 of 20 passes for 80 yards. Two of his attempts were intercepted. Senior receiver Anthony Stevenson had four receptions for 52 yards.

Notes: North’s previous game was a forfeit victory. Prior to that date, Lachermeirer led the state with 1,782 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. He’s the son of former Bethel University quarterback Tom Lachermeier, the Polars’ offensive coordinator and a social studies teacher at their school… Johnson’s worn turf field is scheduled for replacement next season… The Governors’ logo of a top-hatted gentleman wearing a monocle is virtually identical to that of Austin Peay University in Clarksville, Tenn., which shares the same nickname…  The 2023 documentary “Boys in Blue”, which aired on the Showtime channel, followed the North program and its longtime coach, Charles Adams III, who became the Minnesota Twins’ director of security after 20 years as a Minneapolis police officer.

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The final minute of the first half pretty much summarized the opening 24 minutes of Wednesday’s tilt between Class 6A powers Lakeville South and Rosemount.

For the first time in five drives, Lakeville South earned multiple first downs. It did not get a third, because Cullen George recorded his second interception for Rosemount in as many weeks.

The Irish took over on the Lakeville South 40 with 49.2 seconds left.

Less than 10 seconds later, Rosemount increased its lead to 17-0 when Jakhai Hollie got well behind the Cougars secondary on a flea flicker play for a 40-yard touchdown reception from Finn Macken.

Lakeville South made it close in the second half with a couple Griffen Dean scores, but Rosemount held on for a 20-15 victory.

“They’re a very good football team and it’s four quarters,” said Irish coach Jeff Erdmann.

Ranked sixth in the latest state poll, Erdmann’s squad has won seven in a row in a row since falling to No. 2 Centennial in the season opener.

Rosemount (7-1) claimed the Metro South subdistrict title and a No. 1 playoff seed. Second in both is Lakeville South (6-2), which entered the game ranked No. 3 in the state.

Both programs are in strong positions to make deep postseason runs. Class 6A brackets will be announced Thursday morning. Postseason action for the state’s largest schools begins Oct. 24.

“We got more,” George added. “We’ve been working hard and we’re just going up. We’re elevating every week, and that’s our goal.”

This has been quite a turnaround for Rosemount, a perennial power that was an uncharacteristic 1-8 last season.

“Our guys have worked hard, they’ve bought in,” Erdmann said.

“We all pushed each other and picked each other up. I just love this team so much,” said Savion Severson, who had a 53-yard touchdown run on Rosemount’s third offensive snap. The senior played at Northfield and Roseville the past two seasons, but was welcomed with open arms in Rosemount from day one.

Lakeville South entered the affair averaging 224.4 rushing yards per game. It finished with 181 after just 63 yards at halftime.

“Offensively, we just struggled to match their physicality and speed and got a little shell-shocked,” Cougars coach Ben Burk said. “It took the defense to force a stop and make a big play and lit their fire and they were able to go. Being able to overcome that faster is the goal.”

A bad snap on a Rosemount punt got Lakeville South two points early in the third and gave some momentum to the visitors. Nearly seven minutes later, Dean scored from four yards out to cap a 13-play, 67-yard drive that included a 28-yard dash by Jeremiah Lebbi and cut the Cougars’ deficit to 17-9.

“We just didn’t come out with the intensity we had in the first half, and it showed,” George said.

Bennett Simmering’s second field goal of the game, this time from 31 yards out, gave the Irish a 20-9 lead midway through the fourth quarter, one play after an apparent Lakeville South fumble recovery was negated because officials said the runner’s forward progress had been stopped.

A 31-yard dash by Dean got the Cougars within six points. But after forcing a late Rosemount punt, Lakeville South ran four unsuccessful plays in the final minute.

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A handful of turnovers and big plays from Mark Mathis sent Woodbury into the postseason on a winning note Wednesday night.

The junior running back rushed for a pair of touchdowns and caught another as his team recovered a fumble and recorded three interceptions en route to downing crosstown rival East Ridge 23-15 at TCO Stadium in Eagan.

The Royals finished the regular season 6-2, likely locking up a No. 2 seed in the Class 6A playoffs. They also clinched a tie with Forest Lake for the Metro East Sub-District title. The Rangers — who beat Stillwater 27-7 Wednesday — are likely to get the No. 1 seed by virtue of their head-to-head win over Woodbury.

A No. 2 seed means the Royals’ path to state consists of two home games.

The Raptors – who had won four of the last five meetings in the series – finished the regular season 4-4. East Ridge is a good bet to get the No. 4 seed, with Mounds View seeded third.

East Ridge held the ball for nearly 10 minutes on the game’s opening possession, keeping the drive alive twice on fourth down, but using all three of its timeouts.

And on 4th-and-1 at the Woodbury 21, the Royals defense held strong, stopping the Raptors for a loss of two.

Then, on East Ridge’s second possession, Woodbury senior Cooper Crane recovered a fumble at midfield.

Each time, however, the Royals had to punt the ball away.

That luck changed on their third drive, when a 31-yard catch by junior Nolan Freymiller set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Mathis that put Woodbury on top 7-0 with 3:24 to play before halftime.

The Raptors managed to put together a late drive in the final minute-and-a-half of the first half, advancing as far as the Woodbury 12 yard line with under 10 seconds to go.

But two-straight passes to the end zone fell incomplete.

From there, it was Mathis making the plays – scoring on a 3-yard run with 8:09 to play in the third quarter, then catching a 32-yard touchdown pass from senior Emmett Snuggerud one play after Freymiller picked off a pass for the Royals’ third turnover of the night.

East Ridge finally got on the board when senior Cedric Tomes found junior Leo Stalsberg on a 32-yard touchdown pass that cut the gap to 20-7 late in the third quarter.

But Woodbury extended its advantage to 23-7 when junior Brayden Schmitz hit a 38-yard field goal with 11:07 left to play.

The Raptors advanced to the Royals’ 23 on their next possession, but a false start penalty cost them five yards. Then, two plays later, Woodbury picked up turnover No. 4 with an interception in the end zone.

East Ridge did get a late touchdown run by senior Vince Hurley with 19 seconds left to play and converted the two-point conversion. But the Royals recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win and, with it, prime postseason positioning.

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St. Thomas Academy defeated Mahtomedi 35-7 in statement win to claim the program’s 18th undefeated regular season Wednesday night, and its first since 2022.

The battle of two of the top teams in Class 5A was a lopsided affair. Two-way threat Todd Rogalski scored two explosive touchdowns and added an interception.

Cadets coach Travis Walch said Rogalski’s nickname is “Big Play Todd,” and he lived up to that in the win.

“Anytime the ball touches or is near Todd Rogalski, good things are going to happen,” Walch said. “He continues, in every one of these games, to be the most impactful player on the field, because he can do it in every manner. He’s even the long snapper.”

The contest began as a defensive battle, with an early kickoff along with swirling winds contributing to a scoreless first quarter. The only offensive action by either team was from Cadets senior tailback Dominic Baez, who broke off a 49 yard gain on the first play of St. Thomas Academy’s second drive.

With no score after 12 minutes, the Cadets continued to march down the field via a ground-and-pound attack. Baez led the way on a 12-play, 76-yard drive, which he capped off by breaking multiple tackles as he pounded his way across the goalline for a seven-yard score to put St. Thomas Academy up 7-0 with 10 minutes to play in the half.

After dominating between the tackles, St. Thomas Academy (8-0) aired it out to balance out its attack. Cadets junior quarterback Tristan Karl completed three of his first four passes on the Cadets’ fourth offensive drive.

Before his fifth drop back, Karl put senior wideout Grant English in motion across the formation from left to right. English eluded the Mahtomedi defense and found himself wide open in the endzone, where Karl’s pass parachuted into his arms for the Cadets second score.

On the ensuing Mahtomedi drive, Zephyrs quarterback Mark Graff lofted a ball towards the far sideline, but a leaping Rogalski ripped it out of the air. Rogalski contorted his body and got a foot down in bounds to secure the interception at Mahtomedi’s 42 yard line.

Three plays later, Karl tossed a middle screen to Rogalski. He turned and sprinted through the secondary, angling past one Zephyrs defender and dove over the pilon for a 40-yard receiving touchdown to give St. Thomas Academy a 21-0 lead with 2:20 left in the first half.

The Cadets controlled the entirety of the first half, holding the Zephyrs to 43 yards of offense while putting up 250 yards of their own. St. Thomas Academy was led by Baez’s nine carries for 88 yards and Rogalski with three catches for 63 receiving yards, a touchdown and an interception on defense.

Walch said he was happy with his teams performance in all phases tonight in a “complete game.”

“You could really see how special teams goes out there and tilts the field and the offense can punches it in,” Walch said. “Complimentary football. If you’re not playing it come playoff time it’s going to be tough to win.”

After stuffing Mahtomedi (7-1) on its opening drive of the second half, the Cadets began their possession with a holding penalty.

But St. Thomas Academy bounced back thanks to a trick play. Karl pitched it to Baez, who, while running to his right, unloaded a pass downfield to English. Using his strength and speed, English separated from his defender, made the grab and sprinted into the endzone.

The Cadets went 90 yards in four plays after the infraction to extend their commanding lead to 28-0.

St. Thomas Academy’s final score of the night was a 70-yard punt return from, who else, Rogalski. The star said the ball was blending in with the night sky which caused a little concern while the ball was in the air, but that did not affect his return.

“Once I caught that, my blockers had a great hole for me,” Rogalski said. “Cody Kronberg, great block at the very end, so I told him I didn’t even need to pick a side I could have ran right in the middle, because he was putting him in the endzone.”

Mahtomedi’s lone score came on a Graff designed rush.

Both the Cadets and Zephyrs will be No. 1 seeds in their respective Class 5A sections when playoffs being next week — St. Thomas Academy in Section 3, and Mahtomedi in Section 4.

Karl said Wednesday was a statement win, but noted there is room for improvement.

“We have a lot of work to do,” said Karl, who went 11 for 17 for 112 yards and two passing touchdowns. “We can get better every day, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

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