The transitive property of equality is that if two things are each equal to a third thing, they must be equal to each other.

If one were to use that fundamental mathematical principle — often referenced as if A=B and B=C then A=C — entering Thursday’s Class 4A state football quarterfinal, things did not look promising for Hill-Murray but did for Kasson-Mantorville.

That’s because the KoMets overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to take down top-ranked Byron 31-28 in last week’s section title game. Byron crushed Hill-Murray by 36 points in mid-September.

At Stillwater High School, the principle held up.

Jeremiah Peterson ran for two scores and had a touchdown catch, Keymoni Bent returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown and Kasson-Mantorville beat the Pioneers 35-21.

With the win, the KoMets (10-1) will play Grand Rapids in a state semifinal at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 14 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Grady Buettner ran for 204 yards and a touchdown for Hill-Murray (9-2), which also got a touchdown reception from Caden Harrington.

The game’s biggest play came in the final 30 seconds of the opening half.

Trailing 14-6, Hill-Murray looked for the equalizer from the Kasson-Mantorville 9-yard line. Brayden Hartmann’s throw was headed for a receiver in the end zone, but Bent got in the way.

With the ball in his arms and plenty of green in front of him, the sophomore sped down the KoMets’ sideline, made a move inside the Pioneer 40 to deke a final tackler and dashed across the other goal line.

Hill-Murray’s first five drives of the first half all got inside the Kasson-Mantorville 25, but the Pioneers scored just six points via 40- and 30-yard field goals from Evan Curtis. They lost a fumble at the 2 on their third drive, had a field-goal attempt blocked on the fourth and then came Bent’s pick-6.

Bent returned the second-half kickoff into Hill-Murray territory. Three plays later, Logan Louks scored from 41 yards out on 3rd-and-11 to make it 28-6 KoMets.

Buettner scored from the 1 to get the Pioneers within 28-14 with 3:21 left in the third quarter, but Peterson went for 65 yards to the end zone on the opening play of the ensuing Kasson-Mantorville drive.

Harrington’s 55-yard touchdown reception opened the fourth.

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Being road warriors isn’t quite as hard when you have a Jett.

That would be junior Jett Feeney, the dynamic Moorhead quarterback who rushed for two touchdowns and threw for two more as the Spuds defeated Centennial 35-21 in a Class 6A state quarterfinal matchup on Thursday night at Spring Lake Park High School.

The Spuds (7-4) — who have now had to make the three-and-a-half hour-plus drive to the Twin Cities metro seven times in their first season in Class 6A — advance to meet the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal between Maple Grove and Lakeville South (scheduled for 6 p.m. at Eastview High School) in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 14 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Cougars finished their season 9-2 overall.

It was a neutral site Thursday, but the trip from Centennial High School to Spring Lake Park was just 6.8 miles. Moorhead, meanwhile, traveled just over 228 miles.

Yet, the Spuds showed no signs of travel lag on their first possession. After taking over on the Cougars’ 38-yard line following a shanked punt, Feeney kept the drive alive with a 24-yard pass to junior Taye Reich.

Two plays later, the quarterback scored untouched from 7 yards out to put his team on top 7-0.

Centennial answered back, tying the score on a 50-yard touchdown run by senior Calvin Coopersmith with 2:55 to play in the first quarter.

Feeney put the Spuds back on top early in the second quarter, connecting with junior Zak Walker on a 44-yard pass before scoring again on a 3-yard touchdown run.

But once more, the Cougars responded, marching 75 yards to score on a 5-yard touchdown run from senior Caleb Melser that tied the score 14-all with 4:45 to play in the second.

However, Feeney and the Moorhead offense struck again just before halftime, helped by a costly pass interference call against the Cougars that set the stage for a touchdown pass to junior David Mack on 4th-and-1 at the Centennial 4. That sent the Spuds into the locker room leading 20-14.

And the momentum continued to start the second half when Reich returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion expanded the Moorhead lead to 28-14.

Centennial again had an answer, scoring on a 28-yard touchdown run by sophomore Edwin Ekah to cut the gap to seven.

Yet, the Cougars just couldn’t slow down the Spuds’ offense. Moorhead scored again late in the third when Feeney connected with senior Jaimeson Dunlap on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Centennial had the ball inside the Spuds’ 20 in the fourth but ended up turning it over on downs. Feeney and company then ran out the clock to move on to the semifinals and yet another road trip to the Twin Cities.

Moorhead is trying to win its first state championship since beating Winona 13-7 in the old Class AA classification in 1987.

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After tragedy, Mahtomedi star goalie Harlow Berger finds herself, and her voice

RALEIGH, N.C. – After a promising start in a tough environment, the Carolina Hurricanes found an answer for everything the Minnesota Wild could throw at them.

Matt Boldy had a pair of goals to snap out of a notable drought, and Minnesota’s special teams continued a strong stretch, only to see the Hurricanes rally for a 4-3 win. Brock Faber got his second goal of the season.

Looking for a third consecutive win, the Wild twice held one-goal leads and also came back to forge a 3-all tie in the second period. But the Hurricanes stormed back at every turn.

Filip Gustavsson, making his 12th start in goal for the Wild, had a shaky start. Carolina scored four times on its first eight shots. After that, the goalie settled in and finished with 23 saves in the loss

Minnesota fell to 5-7-3 with the loss, and are now 0-6-1 when trailing after the first period.

The Wild got the game’s first power play but could not muster a shot on goal. But with the teams back to even strength a short time later, Kirill Kaprizov got loose in the middle of the offensive zone and made a rush to the net that was thwarted. Boldy was able to punch the loose puck in before Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen could cover it.

Boldly had scored just once in the Wild’s previous 10 games.

After the Wild killed their first penalty of the game, fourth line winger Tyler Pitlick leveled Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield with an open-ice check. After a brief fight, Chatfield was helped off the ice and Pitlick was ejected from the game for the illegal hit to the head.

Chatfield did not return to the game, officially listed as dealing with an upper body injury.

With the teams skating four-on-four, Carolina’s Jackson Blake made a coast-to-coast rush with the puck and snapped a low shot past Gustavsson to tie the game. But the Wild answered 31 seconds later, reclaiming the lead at 2-1 via a Brock Faber wrist shot after a set up pass from Kaprizov.

The lead was brief, as Andrei Svechnikov fooled Gustavsson with a low shot on the next shift. The trio of goals in 52 seconds was the fastest three-goal span in the NHL this season.

The Wild killed the rest of the extended penalty only to see Carolina take the lead on a long shot through a crowd in front of the Minnesota net five seconds after the teams were back to full strength.

Minnesota had three shots in the first period, and Andersen stopped one of them.

Opening the middle frame on a power play, the Wild needed 37 seconds to tie the game as Vladimir Tarasenko fed Boldy for a tap-in goal. The tie was again brief, as Carolina scored on the ensuing faceoff, nine seconds later, to lead 4-3.

With just over eight minutes left in regulation, Kaprizov looked to have an open net for the tying goal, only to have Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker disrupt the play. Minnesota made a furious final push with Gustavsson on the bench but could not get the equalizer.

Andersen finished with 19 saves for the Hurricanes, who make their only visit to St. Paul this season on Nov. 19.

The Wild’s current two-game Eastern road swing concludes on Friday night when they visit the New York Islanders for the only time this season. Their game at UBS Arena on Long Island faces off at 6 p.m. CT.

Briefly

The Hurricanes lineup featured three veterans of Minnesota prep hockey: K’Andre Miller (Minnetonka), Mike Reilly (Holy Angels) and Blake (Eden Prairie). But the Wild lineup featured the only player from the Carolinas. Ryan Hartman was raised in suburban Chicago, but he was born in 1994 in Hilton Head Island, S.C. and was the first NHL player born in South Carolina.

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A judge, citing insufficient evidence for a trial to proceed, dismissed a case this week against a man who was accused of lighting a St. Paul apartment on fire three years ago.

Ramsey County District Judge Leonardo Castro threw out the case against Matthew Ryan Gieske on Tuesday as a jury trial was about to begin, later noting in his order that the prosecution said in court the witness who could identify Gieske as the man who started the fire would not be called to testify.

“The State did not provide a reason why it was not calling the witness,” the judge’s dismissal order read.

Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, said Thursday in a statement that a “key witness” had left Minnesota and could not be located for trial.

Gieske, 42, of St. Paul, had been charged with first-degree arson in connection with the blaze at an apartment building in the city’s North End neighborhood on Sept. 7, 2021. He was found to be incompetent to face the charge in August 2023, and later civilly committed for a mental illness. In July, he was found competent for court proceedings.

Partially melted gas can recovered

According to the criminal complaint, a man told police he saw Gieske holding a butcher knife outside the apartment building in the 1600 block of Marion Street. The man, who was a tenant, said he was familiar with Gieske and knew he “had displayed odd behavior in the past,” the complaint read.

When Gieske pointed the knife at the man and his sister, the man clicked his handgun’s safety and asked Gieske to get away from them, the complaint said.

Gieske left, but came back later and tried to get into the man’s second-floor apartment, the complaint alleged. The man looked out his peephole and saw Gieske and heard the noise of someone shaking a lighter fluid can.

The man said he saw Gieske holding something that was on fire, possibly a lighter, and then saw flames rush up his door. The flames entered his apartment over and underneath the door, and the man escaped via his balcony. The building was evacuated, and no one was injured.

Police recovered a partially melted gas can in the hallway and noted that the building was severely damaged by fire.

Officers made contact with Gieske, who “appeared to be in crisis and did not follow directives,” the complaint said. He was taken into custody, and the man identified him as the man at his door. Gieske declined to give a statement to police.

‘State lacks sufficient evidence’

On Tuesday, prior to calling for the jury, Castro asked the prosecution and defense about witnesses who were going to testify at trial.

The prosecution identified several witnesses, but said none would be able to identify Gieske as the person who intentionally started the fire, according to Castro’s dismissal order.

“The only identity evidence the State could offer was that the Defendant was seen leaving the apartment complex that was engulfed in flames,” the order read. “First responders were attempting to evacuate the apartment complex at that time.”

The prosecution sought to introduce body-worn camera evidence of two people identifying the clothing of a person they saw exiting the apartment building. Castro, after reviewing the body-worn footage, concluded their statements were in response to investigative questioning and “were not excited utterances,” his order read. “The statements would therefore be excluded without the testimony of the witnesses.”

Castro wrote the prosecution did not intend to produce evidence that could create a link “between (the Defendant) and the person who started the fire.”

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“Other than the Defendant’s presence at or around the scene of the fire, no other evidence, circumstantial or direct, would be produced that would implicate the Defendant,” the order read.

Castro noted that, based on what the prosecution told him in court, no evidence of motive or opportunity to commit the crime would be presented at trial.

“Therefore, this Court concludes that based on the evidence that would be presented at trial, the State lacks sufficient evidence to establish probable cause and present this matter to a trier of fact,” the order read.

Gieske remains in custody on a pending civil petition as mentally ill and dangerous filed by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. A trial on the matter is set for Dec. 19 before Judge Timothy Carey.