Saturday's Class 3A semifinal between Stewartville and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton was a one-point toss-up early in the second half until Mikhail Heydt gave the undefeated Tigers separation with an interception return for a touchdown.
Stewartville motors away from Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in 3A football semifinal
A one-point game at halftime turned on a defensive touchdown in the second half.
November 18, 2023 at 10:23PM
Top-ranked Stewartville pulled away for a 28-7 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium and advance to the Prep Bowl at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers (13-0) were runners-up in 1977 and 1986. No. 5 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (10-2) can relate. The Rebels finished second last season.
They led 7-6 in the third quarter, then watched Heydt sprint 32 yards for a game-changing touchdown.
"He's a sophomore linebacker and he's a great athlete," teammate Caleb Jannsen said. "But in the first half, they were hitting on that same screen pass on us over and over and over again — and he was kind of chasing. He got pulled out and our defensive coaches talked to him and showed him what he had to do. Then he went out and executed."
Stewartville quarterback Ayden Helder, a Mr. Football finalist, also got going as the game wore on. He connected with Parker Wangen for a pair of second-half touchdowns.
"The first half we were moving the ball fine, but there would be that one play where we kind of have a penalty or like the dropped snap on that third down where our drive just kind of fizzled out," Helder said. "In the second half, our defense was getting stops, and that helped to get the ball in our hands longer. That makes an offense run a lot more efficiently."
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
