Defense steals the show in multiple prep football games across Minnesota

St. Michael-Albertville took the Chicago Bears’ opening-game performance to heart.

The Knights slipped past Champlin Park 14-7 on Friday night without scoring an offensive touchdown. It was the third most points St. Michael-Albertville (3-2) has scored in a game the first five weeks of the season.

“I have never won one like that before,” Knights coach Jared Essler said. Both touchdowns were recorded by Essler’s punt return team.

In the first quarter, senior defensive lineman Jaden Myers turned in a superb effort to block a Rebels punt. Senior defensive back Brock Cornell scooped up the ball and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown.

A quarter later, the Champlin Park (2-3) punter dropped the snap and senior running back Tanner Becker picked up the bouncing ball and dashed eight yards into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Neither team scored in the second half.

“Our defense played great, as did the Champlin Park defense,” Essler said. “It was a quick game. Offensively we only had seven possessions. Our third ended with a two-minute drill before halftime and our last was a four-minute drill — bleed the clock — at the end of the game where we ended up taking a knee.”

The Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 in their season opener without scoring an offensive touchdown.

Rochester Mayo coach Donny Holcomb remained positive after a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching 46-43 loss to Lakeville South on the final play of the game.

“We have a lot very emotional guys right now,” Holcomb told the Rochester Post Bulletin. “They worked their tails off. But we will stay positive and learn from this.”

His Spartans (2-3) took a 43-40 lead when junior quarterback Isaac Peterson and senior running back Isaiah Beale teamed up on what appeared to be a 2-yard game-winning touchdown pass with 28.9 seconds remaining. Peterson completed 24-of-28 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns while Beale rushed for 134 yards on 21 carries and additional two touchdowns on the night.

“We aren’t down, no negatives,” Holcomb told the Rochester Post Bulletin. “I don’t like losing and I don’t want to sound like I do, but there are still a lot to positives to take away. A lot of positive lessons to take moving forward. It shows the character of the kids we have, I’m proud of this group. I tell them all the time football reveals your true character.”

That was because the Cougars (2-3) were far from done. They quickly marched 80 yards on five plays, a big chunk coming on a 54-yard pass from senior quarterback Gaven Dean to senior running back Bo Bokman who lined up as a wider receiver, with 2.2 seconds left. Senior running back Jonah Shine capped the wild finish with a 2-yard burst into the end zone as the clock expired.

“The best part of our fourth quarter comeback was the resiliency of our players,” Cougars coach Ben Burk said. “The entire team was excited about the turn of events, and I was most proud of them all for not giving up.”

Thief River Falls only scored 26 points in its first four losses to start the season. It was looking for a way to break the losing streak. The Prowlers turned to their defense.

Coach Kurt Reynolds’ defensive unit shut out East Grand Forks in registering a 6-0 victory, not quite the same offensive output it had been averaging.

“We’ve been shellacked,” Reynolds told the Grand Forks Herald. “I said, ‘We don’t turn the ball over and we control the ball on offense, we’ll be fine.’ And we were.”

Prowlers senior running back Jackson Boyer scored on a 1-yard run on the last play of the first half for the game’s lone touchdown.

East Grand Forks coach Ryan Kasowski said Thief River Falls (1-4) “really put it to us” for four quarters. The Green Wave fell to 3-2.

“I just thought from a physical standpoint, (Thief River Falls was) extremely physical all game,” Kasowski said. “Up front, (they) did a great job of winning the line of scrimmage. It made it really tough on us to do anything offensively.”

2 Interceptions returned for touchdowns by Kasson-Mantorville senior defensive back Caisen Thome in a 28-7 victory over Winona. He returned his pick-sixes 56 and 76 yards for scores for the KoMets (4-1).

3 Consecutive wins for Hopkins (3-2) after snapping a 29-game losing streak that dated back to Nov. 11, 2020. The Royals held on to beat Park of Cottage Grove 57-50 to extend their winning streak.

3 Various ways Pequot Lakes senior Landen Brill scored touchdowns in the first quarter of a 56-0 shut out over Hibbing. Brill ran for a touchdown, caught a scoring strike and returned an interception for another score as the Class 3A, No. 5-rated Patriots (5-0) raced to a 35-0 first-quarter lead.

5 Interceptions Renville County West had in shutting out Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman 26-0. Senior defensive back Griffin Howard picked off three of the passes for the Jaguars (3-2).

6 Touchdowns Alexandria senior quarterback Chase Thompson accounted for in the Cardinals’ 55-17 victory over Brainerd. Thompson threw five touchdown passes, three to junior split end Mason Witt and ran for another. He has 16 touchdown passes on the season for the Class 5A, No. 1 Cardinals (5-0).

6 Rushing touchdowns for Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg senior running back Jett Olson in a 56-7 triumph over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. Olson carried 15 times for 212 yards while scoring on runs of 2, 7, 11, 20 (twice) and 45 yards for the Fighting Saints (3-2).

9 Touchdown receptions for Dawson-Boyd senior wide receiver Brayson Boike the last four weeks. He has 557 receiving yards on the season.

23.9 Average rushing yards per attempt for Two Harbors senior running back Tate Nelson in a 55-26 victory over Esko. Nelson rushed for 263 yards on 11 carries and five touchdowns. He scored on runs of 4, 17, 60, 70 and 82 yards for the Agates (4-1).

87 Points Nine-Player, No. 2 Mountain Iron-Buhl (7-0) scored while shutting out Kelliher/Northome (3-2). They were coming off an 88-point output against winless Cass Lake-Bena (0-5).

512 Rushing yards North Branch (4-1) compiled in rolling to a 47-12 victory over Class 4A, No. 4-ranked and previously unbeaten Duluth Denfeld (4-1). The Vikings are averaging 450.5 rushing yards per game during their four-game winning streak.

518 Yards Class 1A, No. 9-ranked BOLD’s ground game accumulated in a 58-26 triumph over No. 6-rated Dawson-Boyd (4-1). Senior halfback Hudson Vosika ran for five touchdowns for the Warriors (4-1), scoring on runs of 10, 20, 36, 85 and 86 yards.

“This team could be a very good football team, but we are not there yet. We have to clean up some of the mistakes that we made tonight. We’ve got to be more disciplined, but I think our best days are still ahead of us.”— Hermantown coach Mike Zagelmeyer told the Duluth News Tribune after the Hawks beat Rock Ridge 42-12 to raise their record to 4-1 on the season.