Saturday's roundup: Andover rolls against Robbinsdale Armstrong in Class 5A football

In another 5A quarterfinal, Alexandria surged away from Rogers. In 3A, Dassel-Cokato topped Minneapolis North.

By Joe Gunther, Star Tribune

November 12, 2023 at 5:38AM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Chase Pemberton and D'Mario Davenport ran for two touchdowns each to lead Andover past Armstrong 37-20 on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A football state tournament at Osseo High School.

Pemberton and Davenport scored their first touchdowns to give the Huskies (10-1) a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Davenport extended the lead to 21-0 midway through the second quarter.

Pemberton and Hudson Maynard ran for touchdowns in the third quarter to give the Huskies a 37-6 lead after three quarters.

Dawson Franke ran for a touchdown in the second quarter and threw for two more in the fourth for the Falcons (8-3). Gideon Breker and Fitz Freeman caught touchdown passes from Franke.

Alexandria 38, Rogers 14: The Cardinals (11-0) scored 28 unanswered points to pull away from the Royals (9-2) in a Class 5A quarterfinal at Maple Grove High School.

The Cardinals scored five touchdowns, all in the second half. Chase Thompson threw two touchdown passes to Bralyn Steffensmeier and one to Evan Kludt, Talan Witt threw a scoring pass to Andrew Flaten and Kludt returned an interception 90 yards.

The Royals erased a pair of three-point deficits with touchdowns on drives that included fake punts that led to first downs. The first came in the second quarter and produced Rogers' first first down of the game. They capped the drive with a short touchdown run by Kalvin Eull. They took a 14-10 lead early in the third quarter on a 60-yard run by Ryder Vylasek on a fake punt.

Class 3A

Annandale 14, Esko 7: Connor Lampi scored early in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals (11-0) the victory over Esko (10-1) at Brainerd High School. Brandon Valdez ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter for the Cardinals. Esko scored first with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jacion Owens to Sam Haugen.

Dassel-Cokato 14, Minneapolis North 7: Anthony Briseno recovered a fumble with 1:59 left to seal the victory for the Chargers at Orono High School. The Chargers (10-1) jumped to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive on a touchdown pass from Caleb Thinesen to Monte Gillman. It was the first passing touchdown of the season by the Chargers. They extended the lead to 14-0 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Caleb Smock. The Polars (9-2) got on the board with a touchdown pass from Logan Lachermeier to Jakari Miamen with 4:45 left. The Polars were driving for the tying score before turning the ball over on a fumble inside the Chargers 10-yard line.

Stewartville 22, Waseca 0: Ayden Helder threw three touchdown passes to lead the Tigers past the Bluejays (9-3) at Hastings High School. Carter Miller, Caleb Bancroft and Henry Tschetter were on the receiving end of the three scores for the Tigers (12-0).

about the writer

about the writer

Joe Gunther, Star Tribune

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Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.

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