Armstrong starts fast, upends St. Louis Park

Jamen Malone threw five touchdown passes to lead No. 2 seed Armstrong past No. 3 St. Louis Park 35-26 in the Class 5A, Section 5 football semifinals on Saturday.

The Falcons (6-3) took a 29-3 lead at halftime. Malone provided the final score of the game with a touchdown pass to Marquan Tucker.

The Orioles (5-4) rallied in the second half to cut the deficit to three points with 9:56 left.

In the other semifinal, Joe Russell threw five touchdown passes to lead No. 1 Cooper (7-2) past No. 4 Minneapolis Southwest 49-14. Donte Williams caught three touchdown passes and David Connors had a touchdown catch and run for the Hawks. Preston Engren threw two TD passes to Andrews Gregerson for the Lakers (6-4).

In other Class 5A semifinal games:

Section 2: Zander Dittbenner threw four touchdown passes to lead No. 1 Mankato West (9-0) to a 51-0 victory over No. 4 New Prague (7-3). Peyton Goettlicher and Mekhi Collins caught two TD passes each.

Section 3: Love Adebayo and Zach Santrizos ran for two touchdowns each to lead No. 1 St. Thomas Academy (9-0) to a 49-0 home victory over No. 5 Apple Valley (3-7).

Section 4: Ethan Kaemmer threw for three touchdowns in leading No. 7 Tartan (3-7) past No. 6 St. Paul Highland Park 42-18. Shea Landa rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Scots (3-7). ... In the other semifinal, Charles Brandt threw a touchdown pass and ran for another to lead No. 1 Mahtomedi (7-2) past No. 5 Cretin-Derham Hall (3-7) 42-18. Jordan Hull had two touchdowns for the Zephyrs. The Raiders' Miles Bollinger threw for three TDs.

Section 6: Micha Hobin scored three second-half touchdowns to lead No. 2 Park Center (8-1) past visiting No. 6 Buffalo (3-7) 28-20. Hobin caught a 12-yard touchdown pass, returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score and had a 26-yard TD run that sealed the victory for the Pirates. Evan Soeffker ran for two touchdowns and Antonio Bluiett returned a kickoff for a Bison touchdown. ... In the other semifinal game, No. 1 Rogers (8-1) held on for a 14-8 victory over No. 4 Monticello (6-4).

Section 7: Caden Wheeler's three rushing touchdowns helped No. 1 Andover (9-0) cruise to a 56-21 victory over No. 5 Cambridge-Isanti (2-8). Merle Mauer threw two touchdown passes for the Bluejackets.

Section 3: JP Yocum kicked a 36-yard field goal in overtime to give No. 2 Hill-Murray (5-4) a 15-12 victory over No. 3 South St. Paul (2-7). The Packers took a 12-10 lead with 2:23 left on a 1-yard run by Brandon Ogren. A safety with 34 seconds left forced overtime for the Pioneers. ... In the other semifinal, Caden Renslow accounted for three touchdowns in lifting No. 1 Simley (6-3) past No. 4 Academy Force (4-6) 61-18.

Section 4: No. 2 Columbia Heights (7-3) stopped a two-point conversion try with 8:12 left to defeat sixth-seeded Chisago Lakes 22-20. Blake Schmidt ran for two touchdowns for the Wildcats (3-7). ... In the other semifinal, Devin Williams' four touchdowns led No. 1 Fridley (7-2) past No. 5 St. Paul Como Park (4-6) 37-6.

Section 5: Sanjay Redd ran for 147 yards and a touchdown to lead No. 2 SMB (6-3) past No. 6 Benilde-St. Margaret's (2-8) 10-3. ... Emmett Johnson ran for five TDs to lead No. 1 Holy Angels (7-2) past DeLaSalle 42-0.

Section 8: Carter Callahan's five TDs led No. 1 seed Becker (9-0) past St. Cloud Apollo (5-5) 51-7.