Reggie Rolle leaped for joy while celebrating with teammates Mike Tague and Joshua Doran, right, after Apple Valley won the Class AA championship (Jerry Holt, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Star Tribune is celebrating 50 years of high school football state tournaments one day at a time for 50 days.

Year: 1993

"I was looking into the quarterback's eyes." — Detroit Lakes' Toby Steinmetz about his interception against Northfield with 40 seconds left

The magic number was three in 1993.

Senior quarterback Brian Rasmussen threw three touchdown passes, all to different receivers, as Apple Valley rolled over Rochester John Marshall 29-7 in the Class AA final.

"Our receivers and running backs ran picture-perfect routes," Rasmussen said. "And our offensive line gave me time."

Toby Steinmetz's interception with 40 seconds remaining preserved Detroit Lakes' 27th consecutive victory, a 21-14 triumph over Northfield for the Class A crown. Detroit Lakes' three touchdowns were scored three different ways, on a run, a pass and a fumble return.

Northfield quarterback Sam Richardson had connected on three of four passes, moving the Raiders to the Detroit Lakes 38, when Steinmetz noticed a flaw in his team's coverage.

"I was playing deep, but they had somebody in the flat and I didn't think one of our linebackers could get over there in time," Steinmetz said. "I was looking into the quarterback's eyes."

Brent Miller rushed for 299 yards on 32 carries and scored three touchdowns as Mahnomen won the Class C championship for the fourth consecutive year with a 42-23 triumph over Minneota. Miller scored on runs of 6, 57 and 80 yards.

Mahnomen kept running the same play, featuring the same player. The play — called "74" — is a fake-dive, off-tackle run. It introduced Minneota to a basic tenet of the Indians' offensive philosophy: We'll run a play until you can stop it.

"We run it every game, 10 or more times," Miller said. "Today it must have been close to 20."

Tailback Kyle Neitzel rushed for 270 yards on 30 carries and scored three touchdowns as Chokio-Alberta shut out LeRoy-Ostrander 35-0 for the Nine-Man crown. He scored on runs of 1, 39 and 77 yards.

Spartans center Kelly Backman said it's simple to block for Neitzel.

"You can't imagine how much fun it is to block for a guy like that," Backman said. "He'll find the smallest hole. He finds the openings so well it's unbelievable."

State championship games

Class AA: Apple Valley 29, Rochester John Marshall 7

Class A: Detroit Lakes 21, Northfield 14

Class B: St. Cloud Cathedral 28, Zumbrota-Mazeppa 6

Class C: Mahnomen 42, Minneota 23

Nine-Man: Chokio-Alberta 35, LeRoy-Ostrander 0