Moorhead’s offense outlasted the Woodbury Royals on Friday night in a 64-48 victory to claim the Class 6A, Section 4 crown.

The teams combined for 112 points on a frigid, rainy night at Woodbury High School. Spuds junior quarterback Jett Feeney had six total touchdowns to lead Moorhead to a state tournament berth.

“Resiliency,” Moorhead head coach Kevin Feeney said, describing his team’s performance. “It wasn’t always pretty in a couple of the phases of the game.
But ultimately, we got the big turnover on defense and then got the surprise onside.”

On the opening drive, the Spuds lulled the Royals to sleep with rushes and then Feeney connected with junior David Mack for a 37-yard touchdown.

Woodbury had an 8-play, 90-yard drive in response, capped by their top tailback Mark Mathis with a rushing touchdown. A 2-point conversion made it 8-7 Royals with 5:32 in the first.

The foes traded blows as Feeney found junior wide receiver Zak Walker for a 30-yard touchdown. The Royals answered back on the ensuing kickoff as Mathis returned it 90 yards for a score.

Moorhead turned around and posted a 43-yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Taye Reich.

Woodbury quarterback Emmett Snuggerud hit his tight end Ethan Hauser for an 8-yard touchdown. But Moorhead stood firm on Woodbury’s third 2-point attempt, keeping it 22-21.

Feeney found Mack again for another score and retook a 28-22 lead. A Woodbury touchdown and failed extra point knotted the score.

The Spuds had 28 seconds and three timeouts to work with in the half. Four plays later, all passes, Mack had his third touchdown 20 seconds later.

The only thing that stopped the two teams from scoring was the halftime horn. Moorhead posted 334 yards of offense, led by Feeney’s 180 passing yards and four touchdowns.

“Unfortunately, [Jett’s] season took a real sideways twist on this field, and he was ready to get back up on that horse on this field,” his father and coach Kevin Feeney said.

He was referring to a Week 2 injury Jett Feeney sustained against the Royals on Sept. 5th.

Woodbury came out of the half strong, Mathis on fourth-and-two in the red zone bounced outside and broke multiple tackles on a 17-yard touchdown rush. A successful 2-point try put Woodbury up 36-35, their final lead.

After having just two incompletions in the first half, consecutive misfires from Feeney made it third-and-10. Feeney then found the hands of Walker, who sprinted away for a 70-yard score with 7:48 left in the third quarter.

The Royals flinched first as a Snuggerud pass was intercepted by Mack. Moorhead capitalized with a reverse to Walker for a 20 yard touchdown, giving Moorhead the first two possession lead of the night at 49-36.

Woodbury got off the mat again and Snuggerud tossed a ball to the front pylon where it was deflected into the arms of Mathis for a 24-yard touchdown. A failed 2-point try kept it a 7-point game.

Reich capped another drive with his second score, and a 2-point conversion made it 57-42 Moorhead.

Moorhead recovered an onside kick but a three-and-out gave it back to Woodbury. The Royals handed it right back to the Spuds with a fumble providing the knock out blow.

Moorhead will face Centennial in the state quarterfinals.

“Our group chat name says ‘Road to the Bank’ so that’s the plan,” Feeney said about a trip to U.S. Bank Stadium with a win. “After that we got to keep winning and get that state championship.”

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Cretin-Derham Hall senior Izaak Johnson threw for seven touchdowns onFriday night and his team needed every one of them to hold off late-charging Mahtomedi 49-44 on the road in the Class 5A, Section 4 championship game at a cold and rainy George Smith Field.

Despite trailing by 13 at halftime, and by as much as 21 in the fourth quarter, the top-seeded Zephyrs managed to cut the gap to as little as six with just under five-and-a-half minutes to play, and to just five in the final minute of play.

But Johnson — who seemed to have a response all night — connected with classmate Sam Heath on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 3:08 to go that helped lift the second-seeded Raiders (7-3) seal their second straight trip to the state tournament.

Mahtomedi — which held off a late Cretin-Derham Hall rally to win 28-27 when the two teams faced off in the regular season on Oct. 10 — finished its season 8-2 overall.

Thompson finished the night 23 of 32 passing for 425 yards.

The Zephyrs began the game with runs of 23 and 24 yards from senior Jacob Reubish, but the drive stalled and they turned the ball over on downs at the Raiders’ 33-yard line.

Two plays later, Johnson connected with junior Owen Welk on a 66-yard touchdown pass to take an early 7-0 lead.

Mahtomedi answered back on its next possession when senior Mark Graff scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. The extra point was blocked, though, and the Raiders still led by one.

Johnson insured that margin grew, connecting with senior tight end Isaiah Thom on a 3-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.

He struck again one drive later, this time on a 44-yard scoring strike over the middle to junior Dre Frierson-Hollie — a touchdown that put Cretin-Derham Hall up 21-6 with 6:34 to play in the first half.

Mahtomedi found a bit of a spark late in the second quarter. Senior Moseh Mouacheupao picked off a Johnson pass and returned it to his own 49.

The Zephyrs were forced to punt, but succeeded in pinning the Raiders at their own 1. Two plays later, a bad snap resulted in Johnson downing the ball in the end zone for a safety.

That cut the deficit to 21-8 at halftime.

Johnson finished the first half 12 of 17 passing for 199 yards and three touchdowns.

And he picked right up where he left off to start the third quarter, connecting with Ja’Dale Thompson for the first of three second-half touchdown passes to the senior running back.

Mahtomedi cut the gap to 11 when Graff threaded the needle to find junior Jacob Sokoll on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 5:56 to go in the third quarter. The two-point conversion trimmed the Raiders’ lead to 27-16.

But four plays into his team’s next possession, Johnson again connected with Johnson on a 48-yard touchdown pass followed by a two-point conversion.

Reubish scored for the Zephyrs on an 11-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but once more Johnson responded with a touchdown pass to Thompson — this one a 5-yarder that made the score 43-22.

But things were far from over.

The Zephyrs cut the gap to 13 when junior Trevor Rogosheske threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Graff, who ran for the two-point conversion to make the score 43-30.

Then, after recovering the onside kick, Mahtomedi pulled within six, 43-37, on a 34-yard pass from Graff to junior Luke Torgrude with 5:29 remaining.

And even after Johnson’s touchdown pass to Heath, the Zephyrs didn’t quit. Graff scored on a 22-yard run to trim the lead to just five with 46 seconds to go.

But the Raiders recovered the onside kick to seal the win.

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About half the residents of a St. Paul high-rise forced from their homes by a fire earlier this week have returned to their apartments, city officials said Friday.

More than 770 people were displaced early Sunday morning when a small fire broke out on the 12th floor of the Skyline Tower complex at Griggs Street and St. Anthony Avenue, according to a news release. No one was injured, but the blaze caused outages of the water, heating and electrical systems, rendering the building uninhabitable.

As of Friday afternoon, all 141 households of the complex’s east tower were back in their apartments, the news release said. The units in the west tower suffered significant water damage from the building’s sprinkler system and require repairs before they can be occupied.

The city’s Department of Safety and Inspections conducted “a comprehensive safety review Thursday, certifying the entire building structurally sound,” the news release said.

Skyline Tower, which overlooks Interstate 94, is the largest affordable housing community in St. Paul, according to CommonBond, the nonprofit that manages the complex.

About 150 city workers — including firefighters, police officers, Department of Safety and Inspections personnel, and the mayor and his staff — pitched in to help residents evacuate on Sunday.

CommonBond arranged hotel rooms for many of those who were displaced, while some chose to stay with family or friends.

The fire remains under investigation, but Deputy Fire Chief Jamie Smith said there were not signs it was suspicious.

Donations for residents are being accepted at commonbond.org/skylinetower.

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MINNEAPOLIS — The mood in the Como Park High School locker room Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium after its Class 2A boys soccer championship game with top-seeded Blake mirrored the weather outside — cold, gray and damp.

The unseeded Cougars, whose run to the title clash energized their campus and sparked pride throughout the St. Paul City Conference, ended with a 3-0 loss to the Bears, who were simply too good to be beat and finished the season 19-1-2.

“They were just a good team and good teams create good chances,” said Como Park standout Blessed Htoo, who found himself tightly marked and often jostled. “Their ball movement, they’re very quick with it. And after they pass, they move right away.”

Said Cougars defender Henry Simmons: “I was nervous. I knew they were a good team and it was kind of what I expected from them.”

Como Park coach Brendan Doyle noted that Blake was the division’s top team in the coaches poll and the computer rankings throughout the season.

“They came out with intent to win a state title,” Doyle said. “They were very well-prepared and our guys were trying to hang on.”

Blake opened the scoring during the 13th minute. Oliver Brown redirected in a Landon Bell shot after two earlier Bears missiles bounced off the post during a frenzied, goalmouth scramble.

Como Park’s deficit doubled nine minutes after intermission when Blake was awarded a free kick in the center of the field and just outside the penalty area. The Cougars struggled to structure their defense and Moises Huerta casually rolled the ball wide to a wide-open Max Vezmer, who pounded home a 25-yard shot past a charging foe.

Blake closed the scoring with 29 minutes to play. Bell received a pass from along the end line and to the right of the goal before using a nifty, back-heel feed to send the ball on to Brown. The junior midfielder received the offering with his right foot before shooting inside the left post with his left boot.

Como Park’s best scoring chance might have come with 14 minutes remaining when it was awarded an indirect kick in the center of the penalty area. A teammate’s quick touch set Htoo up for a shot, but the Bears charged off the goal line en masse and smothered the attempt.

“For a high school team, (Blake) has a very well-defined style of play,” Doyle said. “And despite that, they’re not at all predictable. They attack with eight and every player is able to find a bunch of solutions, which means our defenders have three things in their head at any time.

“They’re probably, top to bottom and player to player, the most talented team in our class, too. Everyone’s fighting them uphill from the start.”

The Cougars’ coach said his 15-6-1 team was fortunate to be down only a goal at halftime and made tactical changes to try and get attackers high and wide.

“I think we did a better job in the second half but they have super-talented players and they won their (individual battles) and scored anyway.”

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