High School Football: Edina tops Minnetonka in 6A semifinals

Mason West and his teammates remember how close they came to a state championship two years ago And now in his senior season the Edina quarterback wasn t about to see the Hornets denied a second chance West threw for yards and four touchdowns as his crew overcame a -point late second quarter deficit then withstood a final Minnetonka surge to knock off the Skippers - in a Class A state semifinal Thursday night at U S Bank Stadium We re just hungry West announced That s the biggest thing We re starving for what the end goal is Indeed Edina - rattled off unanswered points over a span in the second third and fourth quarters then got a stop on a late two-point conversion attempt to hold on and advance to face the winner of Friday s other semifinal between Moorhead and Lakeville South in the state title championship at p m on Nov That s the same place the Hornets were two years ago during West s first season as the starter In that match he threw a -yard touchdown pass with seconds remaining to cut the Centennial lead to just one But Edina elected to go for two and now-senior Chase Bjorgaard was stopped less than a yard shy of the goal line as the Hornets fell - This means a lot revealed Bjorgaard who had carries for yards and a touchdown Thursday In my opinion I have to pay certain debts back to those seniors from that championship I m working my butt off every week to try and win this thing But things didn t go Edina s way throughout much of the first half Thursday Minnetonka senior Caleb Francois whose crew fell to Maple Grove in the state title championship last season looked unstoppable despite battling through a lingering hip injury After an interception by senior linebacker Brady Young on the event s opening drive he carried the ball six times for yards on a seven-play -yard drive he capped with a -yard touchdown run to put the Skippers on top - Then after the Minnetonka defense held Edina to a three-and-out junior quarterback Caden Gutzmer connected with senior Parker Burckhardt on a -yard touchdown pass on the opening play of the Skippers second possession The Hornets cut the gap to - when West located senior Jabari Strader on a -yard scoring strike But with just two seconds left in the first quarter Francois broke loose again this time on a -yard touchdown run that extended his group s lead to - He ended the first quarter with carries for yards and two touchdowns And he was far from finished scoring on a -yard touchdown run to make the tally - with to play in the second But the pain Francois was playing through seemed to impact him more and more as the encounter went on I ve been battling hip problems all year and it seemed like in this challenge it all caught up to me explained Francois who finished with carries for yards and three touchdowns I tried to battle through it as best I could But it caught up to me And as it did the Hornets came buzzing back first on a -yard touchdown run by Bjorgaard Then after senior Cooper Drake recovered a fumble at the Minnetonka late in the first half West and Strader connected again this time on a -yard touchdown pass that cut the Skippers lead to just seven - at halftime The two teams combined for yards of offense in the first half for the Hornets and for Minnetonka I think we stole chosen momentum Edina coach Jason Potts explained We got a turnover Our defense started punching the ball out We d been having a tough time stopping their run tournament but as soon as we got a stop and got a turnover that s when our offense really took the momentum and got in the end zone And the Hornets kept hold of the momentum in the second half Despite starting their first drive of the third quarter at their own six West went deep to senior Sammy Stephenson resulting in a -yard touchdown pass that tied the tally at West then scored on an -yard run with to play to give the Hornets their first lead before again finding Strader on a -yard touchdown pass that made the total - The biggest leader of all is our coach West revealed He talks about resiliency That s one of our core values along with mental toughness I think we all heard him talk and went under his belt He prepares us in practice and so we were ready for that moment Minnetonka though did not go quietly The Skippers cut the gap to - when Gutzmer connected with senior Charles Simonsen on a -yard touchdown pass with remaining Then after forcing a Hornets punt Minnetonka scored on a -yard run by senior Quinton Restrepo with to go But the Skippers elected to go for two and Francois was stopped short of the end zone The Hornets then recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock The decision to go for two came down to the fact that we were pretty light on defense reported Minnetonka coach Mark Esch whose gang was battling injuries to a number of key contributors on that side of the ball as well We went for two to try and win it and just came up a yard or two short Edina remembers how that feels But now the Hornets have another chance to bring home a state title This was a cool win but now we have to flush it West declared There s still more ahead of us Orono Marshall OT Griffin Mauer threw two touchdown passes for the Spartans but the preponderance pivotal pass was his scoring strike to Lincoln Stinar for the walk-off -point conversion in overtime Orono will play in the A title event at p m on Nov against either Grand Rapids or Kasson-Mantorville Hills-Beaver Creek Fertile-Beltrami Eduardo Wegener ran for yards and a touchdown as Hills-Beaver Creek outgained Fertile-Beltrami - and controlled the time of possession All points were scored in the first half Hillcrest Lutheran Academy Kittson County Central Kittson County Central had the ball in Hillcrest Lutheran Academy territory in the closing minutes but Sean Berge intercepted a th-down pass to effectively put the event on ice Hillcrest Lutheran Academy will meet Hills-Beaver Creek in the -player title contest at a m on Nov Related Articles High School Football Friday s state semifinal predictions High school football Big play Todd Rogalski is St Thomas Academy s rare three-way star High School Football River Falls lives up to Day promise with historic run to state semis High School Hockey Hill-Murray poised for another run following abrupt exit last season High School Football Thursday s state semifinal predictions