In what is already a magical season, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls football team accomplished something Saturday the program has never done, by doing something that has not occurred since before World War II.

Kaleb Blaha threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 97 more and River Falls dominated the second half to pull away from St. John’s 42-14 in a Division III college football third-round game.

Beating the Johnnies for the first time since a 12-6 victory in 1937, the third-ranked Falcons (11-1) will be back at Ramer Field on Dec. 13 against Wheaton (10-2). The first national quarterfinal appearance in school history comes in a season River Falls won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title for the first time since 1985.

“Making it this far and doing stuff that’s never been done around here, it’s just,” defensive end Jack Olson said before his voice trailed off. Then, after a pause, adding, “You can’t really put words to it.”

Nathan Wasko returned a third-quarter interception 56 yards for a 28-7 Falcons lead. After Dylan Wheeler’s receiving touchdown got the Johnnies back within two scores, Jaylen Reed scored on a 38-yard reception to start the fourth quarter, a play neither Blaha nor coach Matt Walker would call a dagger.

“We got our sword out at that point,” Walker said.

A 1-yard score by Blaha midway through the fourth made it 42-14 and a “Goodbye Johnnies” chant was voiced by many of the Falcon faithful in the packed bleachers.

“He’s really tough because he’s got that quick burst,” St. John’s coach Gary Fasching said of Blaha. “I thought there were times where our defensive line had him cornered, and he burst through a little hole and picked up four or five yards. He did that a lot today.”

Throwing for 3,753 yards and 31 touchdowns, and running for 1,053 yards and 15 scores makes Blaha the leading candidate for the Gagliardi Trophy that is awarded to Division III’s most outstanding player.

“Someone’s not watching very close, if he doesn’t get it,” Walker said, after Blaha shook off an early interception Saturday to finish 22 of 28 through the air.

Hamstring injuries limited Blaha to just three games in 2024, in what was supposed to be his final season.

“I didn’t have to come back, but I wanted to come back, and I knew we could really make this happen. I knew this was a possibility. … Living in it right now, it’s great,” he said.

Trey Feeney was 33 of 59 for 274 yards with two touchdowns with an interception for a one-dimensional Johnnies’ offense. Andrew Harren and Wheeler caught scores for St. John’s (10-2), which entered averaging 526 yards per game but finished with 295.

“One of the more physical secondaries we’ve seen,” Wheeler said.

With its burly, physical offensive line controlling the trenches, River Falls ran 51 times for 188 yards. St. John’s had 22 yards on nine carries.

“You’re not going to win games like this if you can’t run the football,” Fasching said.

The Falcons finished with 433 total yards, 142 yards below their average.

Looking to increase its 14-7 lead in the second quarter, River Falls lined up for a chip-shot field-goal attempt. However, a fake put the ball in the hands of kicker Justin Scheberl, who used his right foot — and left — in a different way. Running right, he dove for the corner but was stopped inside the 2 by Hoyt.

With sudden momentum, St. John’s countered with its best first-half drive that reached the Falcons 18. Back-to-back sacks by Olson and Kody Curtis ultimately forced St. John’s to try a 38-yard field goal in the waning seconds. It was no good.

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Minnesota Wild fans can be excused if they have an outdated idea of who veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko is, and what he can offer, at this point in his career.

For Tarasenko’s first decade in the NHL, he was a Wild killer, coming to town a few times a year as a member of the St. Louis Blues, and using his deadly shot to zip pucks past Minnesota goalies with frustrating regularity.

Tarasenko — who came to Minnesota in a trade with Detroit over the summer — will turn 34 next week, and thus far has not been the consistent offensive contributor that he was at 24, to be sure. Entering Saturday night’s game in Vancouver, Tarasenko had two goals and eight assist in his first 21 games with the Wild. He also missed seven games in late November with a lower-body injury.

In his three outings since returning to the Minnesota lineup, Tarasenko had been held without a point prior to the meeting with the Canucks. But a reporter in Vancouver who asked about Tarasenko’s contributions to the team on Saturday, following the Wild’s morning skate at Rogers Arena, got a different perspective from the Minnesota coach.

“I think Vladdy’s playing pretty solid. I think his details are strong,” John Hynes said. “The thing I like about him is maybe some offensive things. Because he’s known as a scorer, find some opportunities to get his shot more and use his shot in scoring situations. But I think when you see the way that he plays the game overall, you can see why he’s been a part of two Stanley Cup winning teams.”

Originally from Siberia, the wild northern reaches of Russia, Tarasenko played pro hockey in his home country before joining the Blues in 2013. He was a key part of their 2019 NHL title — the first in franchise history — and after a trade to the Panthers in 2024, he scored five goals in Florida’s run to its first Stanley Cup that spring.

Tarasenko spent last season in Detroit, posting 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games. The Red Wings shipped him to Minnesota essentially for free, but Hynes was so invested in integrating the veteran into the Wild’s culture that Hynes traveled to the Tarasenko family home in South Florida shortly after the trade, working to make sure Tarasenko felt welcome playing for his former foe.

While he would certainly welcome more offense from Tarasenko — which is a common theme for a Wild team that had scored four times in its previous three games before facing the Canucks — Hynes is seeing other contributions that he likes.

“I think he plays without the puck really well, I think he’s competitive. He makes a lot of the right decisions,” Hynes said. “I liked that line the other night in Calgary. It was probably one of our better lines with (Nico) Sturm, Tarasenko and (Yakov) Trenin. So, I think he’s progressing.”

With all of that said, Hynes admitted that seeing more of that shot which used to frustrate Wild fans so often, would be a good addition to Tarasenko’s contributions in Minnesota.

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WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended strikes on alleged drug cartel boats during remarks Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, saying President Donald Trump has the power to take military action “as he sees fit” to defend the nation.

Hegseth dismissed criticism of the strikes, which have killed more than 80 people and now face intense scrutiny over concerns that they violated international law. Saying the strikes are justified to protect Americans, Hegseth likened the fight to the war on terror following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“If you’re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you. Let there be no doubt about it,” Hegseth said during his keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “President Trump can and will take decisive military action as he sees fit to defend our nation’s interests. Let no country on earth doubt that for a moment.”

The most recent strike brings the death toll of the campaign to at least 87 people. Lawmakers have sought more answers about the attacks and their legal justification, and whether U.S. forces were ordered to launch a follow-up strike following a September attack even after the Pentagon knew of survivors.

Though Hegseth compared the alleged drug smugglers to Al-Qaida terrorists, experts have noted significant differences between the two foes and the efforts to combat them.

Hegseth’s remarks came after the Trump administration released its new national security strategy, one that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere.

During the speech, Hegseth also discussed the need to check China’s rise through strength instead of conflict. He repeated Trump’s vow to resume nuclear testing on an equal basis as China and Russia — a goal that has alarmed many nuclear arms experts. China and Russia haven’t conducted explosive tests in decades, though the Kremlin said it would follow the U.S. if Trump restarted tests.

The speech was delivered at the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in California, an event which brings together top national security experts from around the country. Hegseth used the visit to argue that Trump is Reagan’s “true and rightful heir” when it comes to muscular foreign policy.

By contrast, Hegseth criticized Republican leaders in the years since Reagan for supporting wars in the Middle East and democracy-building efforts that didn’t work. He also blasted those who have argued that climate change poses serious challenges to military readiness.

“The war department will not be distracted by democracy building, interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, woke moralizing and feckless nation building,” he said.

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So, who’s going to end up paying for the Minnesota Vikings’ collapse? General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah seems the logical bet.

If the Vikings (4-8) were to lose Sunday to Washington (3-9) at U.S Bank Stadium, some smart people wouldn’t be shocked if — depending on the level of embarrassment to ownership — Adofo-Mensah were fired next week. That would send a message to the fan base that Zygi and Mark Wilf intend to fix the mess.

>> The Wilfs uncharacteristically did not attend the loss in Seattle.

>> The only way the cash-constrained Vikings are going to get better is by drafting well. It would be hard to trust Adofo-Mensah and his scouting staff with another draft.

In the Vikings’ horrendous 2022 draft, they waisted their first-round pick on safety Lewis Cine, and a second-rounder on cornerback Andrew Booth.

Telling: The Vikings’ three best offensive players are Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill. They were drafted by Adofo-Mensah’s predecessor, Rick Spielman. The Vikings’ best defensive players are Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. They were not drafted, but free agents. Harrison Smith was drafted by Spielman.

>> Adofo-Mensah, 44, received a four-year contract extension last May.

>> Some people wonder whether the Vikings would try to bring back George Paton, 55, the highly regarded ex-Vikings player personnel chief who left for the Broncos four years ago to become GM but has had his power diminished by head coach Sean Payton.

>> The Vikings are among the NFL’s top 12 oldest teams by roster. The Packers,  who two weeks ago embarrassed the Vikings 23-6, are the youngest. Sunday’s opponent, the Commanders, are the oldest.

>> Going forward, the Vikings have few options at quarterback, and it’s unlikely they’ll be able to trade for a reliable one. Mac Jones, 27, already is getting mentioned for the Vikings, but he’s under contract for 2026 for $4 million and the 49ers aren’t going to give him away.

Jones, even if San Francisco were to make him available, probably would cost the Vikings a second-round draft pick, high for a team that needs draft picks.

Kyler Murray, 28, has had an ordinary career with the Cardinals, but he’s not awful. Arizona probably is going to release him. In an uninspiring 2026 QB market, Murray would seem the Vikings’ best bet.

>> If the season ended Saturday, the Vikings would draft 11th overall in April. Best bet, though, is that the team’s first-round pick will end up in the Nos. 7 to 10 range.

>> Until just a few years ago, NFL teams figured 30 games are needed to determine a quarterback’s future. Viking J.J. McCarthy, 22, has played in just six.

>> U.S. Bank Stadium, site for the Vikings’ season finale against the Packers on Jan. 4, could be 80 percent occupied by Green Bay fans.

>> The Vikings now look as abysmal as they did in 1984, when Les Steckel coached them to a last-place 3-13 record, after which Steckel was fired and Bud Grant was re-hired.

>> Pssst: Bryan Harper, the Vikings’ VP of Content and Production and largely responsible for the franchise’s award-winning game presentation, is the latest among talented executives to leave the organization. Considered the best in the business, he’s headed to Las Vegas’ NHL Golden Knights to become chief marketing officer.

Harper led the stadium launch of traditions Skol Chant and Gjallarhorn.

>> No doubt it was Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers who sought Adam Thielen after his release by the Vikings last week. The Steelers (6-6) are tied with Baltimore (6-6) for first in the AFC North. Because he’s a vested NFL veteran, Thielen still gets $833,000 of his remaining 2025 salary.

>> Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck told a Dunkers club gathering before the season that this would be his best team in his nine seasons at Minnesota. The Gophers finished the regular season 7-5.

Meanwhile, Gophers football attendance has decreased for a second straight season, averaging 46,519 for its seven games this year in 50,085-capacity Huntington Bank Stadium.

The Gophers’ highest attendance average in history was 62,954 in 1957 at Memorial Stadium. The Metrodome years topped out at 60,985 in 1985; and the Huntington Bank Stadium high is 52,355 in 2015.

During Fleck’s nine seasons at Minnesota, home attendance — excluding the abbreviated COVID 2020 season — has averaged 45,257.

>> Baseball’s 2026 draft lottery will be Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., and based on odds there’s a decent chance the Twins could get the No. 1 overall pick. The Twins could be as low as No. 8, but the odds suggest they’ll end up with either Nos. 1, 2 or 3 for the July draft.

>> It appears Gophers men’s basketball coach Niko Medved has found the physical presence he’ll need next season in rugged 6-11, 230-pound Chadrick Mpoyi, who was undervalued in national recruiting circles because he’s only in his sixth year playing basketball.

Mpoyi, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, scored 27 points last week for Crean Lutheran in Irvine, Calif.

>> Dawson Garcia, who averaged 19.2 points for the Gophers last season, is averaging 4.7 points and 17 minutes after six games for the G League Motor City Cruise.

>> Annual compensation for ex-Gophers women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese, 55, whose No. 7 Maryland (10-0) team plays Minnesota on Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena, is nearly $2 million.

>> Ex-Twin Miguel Sano, 32, listed at 6-4, 272 pounds, is hitting .353 with seven home runs and 19 RBIs in 15 games for Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League.

>> It’s sure to be an entertaining evening on Dec. 15 at the Lions Club at St. Andrew Church in Eden Prairie when Mike Grant and Chad Hartman share stories about their famed fathers — Bud Grant and Sid Hartman, who were close friends for 70 years — at a big-time dinner and auction.

>> Memorabilia from the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, including unused hockey sticks left over by the Russians, who lost to Herb Brooks’ USA gold medal champions, will be part of a VSA online auction beginning Dec. 29.

>> Cretin-Derham Hall will dedicate its upstairs gymnasium to late coach Len Horyza before its Jan. 3 Alumni Day 2 p.m. boys basketball game against St. Thomas Academy.

>> Grace You, who played Wendy Melvoin in the recent “Purple Rain” musical in downtown Minneapolis, sang a wonderful national anthem before the Vikings-Bears game, then hustled back to the State Theater under police escort for a 1:30 p.m. performance. The football game was the first she ever attended.

Attending “Purple Rain” performances were Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck and former Gophers player Pete Najarian.

>> Terry Ryan, the astute former Twins GM, has been named to baseball’s Contemporary ERA Hall of Fame Committee that on Sunday in Orlando, Fla., will consider eight players for election, including steroid-tainted Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Next Hall of Fame voting for managers (Twins’ Tom Kelly) and umpires (St. Paul’s Tim Tschida) will be in December of 2027 for Class of 2028.

>> That was retired hall of fame men’s basketball coaches Steve Fritz (University of St. Thomas, 594 career victories), 76, and Jim Smith (St. John’s, 786 victories), 91, lunching the other day in Edina.

>> Natalie Darwitz, 41, the Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame member and former Gopher and Olympian from Eagan, is busy leading an $80 million project as CEO of a Minnesota Hockey Hall of Fame to be based in the Twin Cities.

Those honored won’t be only great players.

“It might be a Zamboni driver up on the Iron Range who opened the rink early and kept it open late at night so little boys and girls could skate free of charge,” Darwitz said at a recent Hockey Old-Timers luncheon at Mancini’s.

>>Eagan’s Steve Thielen and Rochester’s Josh Dascher were to be among on-field officials working Saturday night’s Big Ten football championship game between Ohio State and Indiana.

>> Stephen Michael, 76, who is from Minnetonka, used to broadcast power boat races at the Minneapolis Aquatennial. Now he’s broadcasting Grand Prix power boat races in Indonesia and Shanghai on worldwide TV and in two weeks will work in Sharjah, a suburb of Dubai.

Don’t print that

>> Pssst: Look for Minneapolis-based Varde Partners, a worldwide multi-billion dollar credit investment corporation, to be announced soon as a limited partner with the Minnesota Twins. The firm is one of at least two limited partners expected to assist in diminishing the team’s reported $500 million debt.

>> People who know say several of the Gophers women’s basketball team’s five starters are playing with at least $500,000 from revenue sharing and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals.

>> The Gophers men’s basketball team has a couple of starters with $750,000 deals. Minnesota, which upset No. 22 Indiana last week, has a player revenue coffer in the $3.5 million range. Indiana’s NIL budget is nearly $11 million, which is among the Big Ten’s top three for men’s basketball with Michigan and Illinois.

Meanwhile, Michigan State last week received a $300 million gift for its athletics department, plus another $100 million gift for its NIL endowment.

>> Purdue, where the Gophers play on Wednesday, has no weaknesses, and right now might be the nation’s best basketball team.

>> A Gophers’ 6-6, 320-pound fifth-year senior offensive tackle this season is playing for a $450,000 NIL stipend.

>> It is expected to cost the Gophers at least $1 million to retain redshirt QB Drake Lindsey for his sophomore season next year. That would make him and 2016 junior defensive back Koi Perich at least a $2 million duo. Add Darius Taylor and the cost could exceed $3 million for trio.

>> The Gophers’ five Big Ten football victories this season came against teams (Rutgers, Purdue, Nebraska, Michigan State and Wisconsin) with a composite conference record of 9-35.

>> Bloomington Jefferson grad Lane Kiffin, the new football coach at LSU for $13 million a year, reportedly will have at least $25 million in NIL cash-revenue sharing annually to buy players next year. The Gophers are expected to have about $15 million.

>> It will be interesting to see whether Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who has just two TD catches this season, remembers how to do his post-TD dance.

>> A year ago, Vikings season ticket holders were getting double the face value on many home games when they moved tickets on the secondary market. Now they say they’re getting face value.

>> Fired Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is mulling myriad offers from clubs to be an advisor and/or special assistant. Baldelli, 44, could return to managing after next fall even though a labor lockout is expected after next season.

>> Insiders say the Twins, who had a payroll near $130 million last season, definitely will not be under $100 million in 2006. There were five clubs under $100 million in 2025.

>> It was Dec. 28, 1975, when Metropolitan Stadium head field usher Dick Jonckowski, a Shakopee radio broadcaster working the Vikings-Cowboys playoff game, kicked Dallas receiver Drew Pearson’s shoe after a questionable sideline first-down catch. It was the play just before the infamous Pearson “Hail Mary” push-off last-second winning TD pass by Roger Staubach against the Vikings.

“Today, I’d be in jail,” said Jonckowski, 82, who was suspended by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle for two seasons from retrieving extra point and field goal kicks, for which he would put on a show for fans.

>> The Big Ten Network is planning a Jan. 9 basketball special featuring Eric Musselman and father Bill. Eric, 61, the USC coach, faces the Gophers on Jan. 9 at Williams Arena. Bill, the former Gophers and Timberwolves coach, died from heart and kidney failure at 59.

>> It still looks as if former Gophers men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson, 44, who is taking the year off since his firing last year, will end up as an NBA assistant next year.

>> Those were former quarterbacks Daunte Culpepper (Vikings) and Jim McMahon (Bears) together recently in Anchorage, Alaska, making promotional appearances.

>> St. Paul’s Convention and Visitors Bureau is planning to construct the world’s largest hockey puck for the upcoming World Juniors tournament.

>> It looks like it’ll be a challenge for the University of St. Thomas to retain basketball sophomore star Nolan Minessale, who’s expected to receive several NIL offers. Meanwhile, Andrew Rhode, who left St. Thomas after his freshman year for a $400,000 NIL deal with Virginia, is averaging 6.2 points as a senior for Wisconsin.

Ex-Gophers guard Braeden Carrington from Park Center is averaging 5.8 points as a senior at Wisconsin. Seven-foot junior Nolan Winter from Lakeville North, son of 7-0 ex-Gopher Trevor Winter, is averaging 13.1 points for the Badgers.

>> After Grand Casino recently became corporate naming rights partner for the Wild’s St. Paul NHL arena, Treasure Island Casino was allowed to exit its Wild practice facility naming rights deal two years early.

>> Among head Vikings coach Jerry Burns’ 1991 Vikings 10-person staff, just four — Paul Wiggins, Marc Trestman, Tom Moore and Jerry Brown — remain alive. Burns died in 2021.

>> One of the country’s major sports real estate marketing firms has been providing direction for new Timberwolves-Lynx ownership on how to acquire a new arena in the Twin Cities.

>> Hazeltine National, which hosts the 2029 Ryder Cup, had 20 members at the most recent Ryder Cup won by the Europeans in New York. For the event, spectator tickets of $750 included free concessions. Hazeltine hasn’t made a decision on whether concessions will be complementary when the Chaska course hosts the event.

>> Perhaps due to ongoing political tension between the United States and Canada, Canadiens have been slow to buy tickets to the World Juniors hockey tournament that will be held in the Twin Cities Dec. 26-Jan. 5.

Overheard

Deephaven’s Tim Herron, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and friend of Fuzzy Zoeller, on the gregarious former Masters tournament winner who died from a heart attack the other day at 74: “Fuzzy was the only guy who could give Jack Nicklaus a little beef.”