Alexandria turns it around, takes high school football playoff win over No. 1 Moorhead

The Alexandria and Moorhead showdown was highly anticipated during the regular season.

It wasn’t bound to be any different with a berth in the Class 5A state tournament on the line Friday night at Jim Gotta Stadium in Moorhead.

Alexandria senior quarterback Chase Thompson hooked up with Mason Gorghuber on a 99-yard touchdown pass with 7 minutes, 2 seconds remaining, giving the No. 7-ranked Cardinals a 48-44 victory over the top-ranked Spuds for the Section 8 championship.

“No lead is ever too safe when we are playing each other,” Alexandria coach Mike Empting said. “We found a way to get it done. We’ll take it.”

It was Thompson’s third touchdown pass of the game, the second to Gorghuber. The two hooked up for a 9-yard score with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. Thompson also ran for a 5-yard touchdown.

Dane Olson preserved the lead with an interception at the Cardinals 40-yard line with 1:33 remaining.

“Both teams match up well with each other,” Empting said. “Both teams are very similar and can strike quickly from anywhere on the field. I wouldn’t have expected anything less tonight.”

Taye Reich’s 1-yard scoring run, his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, three minutes earlier gave the Spuds (9-1) a 44-41 lead. He also scored on runs of 2, 8 and 80 yards.

Macklen Heydt added two touchdown runs for the Cardinals, 1 and 43 yards.

Moorhead won at Alexandria 36-34 three weeks ago when the Cardinals missed a 43-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining.

In other games Friday:

Mounds View 28, Prior Lake 27: The Lakers played for the win. It proved costly. Mounds View’s defense stuffed the Lakers’ two-point conversion run with 49 seconds remaining as the No. 9-ranked Mustangs escaped with a one-point victory in the second round. The Lakers (5-5) pulled within a point on senior running back Levi Etter’s 7-yard scoring run. Etter also scored on a 3-yard run on their previous possession to tie it at 21-all. Senior running back Mitchell Olson scored on a 27-yard run with 3 minutes, 54 seconds remaining, giving the Mustangs (8-2) a 28-21 lead. Olson gave the Mustangs a 14-3 lead in the second quarter with a 73-yard touchdown run. J. Sampson scored Mounds View’s other two touchdowns on runs of 5 and 10 yards.,

Section 2

Chanhassen 21, Mankato East 14: The Storm weren’t going to be denied a chance to defend their state championship. Junior Kade Bush scored with 1.8 seconds remaining, giving the Storm (7-3) a wild victory over Mankato East. The Cougars (7-3) beat Chanhassen 43-19 a month ago. Mankato East tied it 14-14 on junior wide receiver Hayden Tischler’s 12-yard juggling catch of senior quarterback Ganden Gosch’s pass in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal call with 48.5 seconds remaining. The Storm started their seven-play, game-winning drive on their own 30-yard line. The game-winning touchdown was set up by a 37-yard pass from Bush to junior wide receiver James Kopfmann to the Cougars 1-yard line.

Section 7

Elk River 59, Andover 28: The No. 4-ranked Elks (9-1) avenged a regular-season setback at the hands of the fifth-rated Huskies (7-3) to earn a state tournament berth. Andover struck first on a 13-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Joseph Mapson to senior wide receiver Brady Jenson midway through the first quarter. Sophomore running back Carsyn Kleffman and the Elks’ punishing ground game took over from there. Kleffman scored on three consecutive possessions on runs of 5, 25 and 55 yards, giving Elk River a 22-7 lead. He also scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter. Senior running back Brecken Keoraj and junior quarterback Levi Harris each added two touchdown runs for the Elks., Mapson later added three touchdown runs of 1, 6 and 43 yards. Andover beat Elk River 47-31 in Week 4.

Section 5

Minneota 34, BOLD 28: The No. 1-ranked Vikings (10-0) scored on their last four possessions, overcoming a 14-point deficit to edge the No. 6 Warriors (8-2) for the section title. Senior running back Ryan Meagher capped the comeback with a tie-breaking 4-yard touchdown run, his fourth touchdown of the game, with 59 seconds remaining. He earlier scored on runs of 5, 8 and 8 yards, giving him 30 touchdowns on the season. Classmate Destin Fier added an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Senior halfback/cornerback Hudson Vosika scored three first-half touchdowns for BOLD, catching touchdown passes of 10 and 70 yards from senior quarterback Jack Gross and returning an interception 99 yards for a score with one second remaining in the first half to give the Warriors a 21-7 lead.