#1 Lakeville South earns perfect season with 14-13 thriller over #3 STMA

With two seconds remaining in the season, 6A #3 St Michael-Albert was lining up a 40-yard field goal that could beat #1 Lakeville South. The kick would decide a tremendous game between two teams that – in any other year – would have designs on winning a State Championship.

Click the video box on this page to see KSTP Sports’ extended highlights of Lakeville South versus St Michael-Albertville

After Lakeville South took a timeout to ice the STMA kicker, the ball was struck and just barely missed the mark – giving Lakeville South a 14-13 win and their completion of a perfect season.

STMA put themselves in position to steal the win after dominating the game on offense and defense through three quarters.

The Knights got the scoring started thanks in part to a solid effort by quarterback Jack Dobinski. His offensive line pushed a massive dog pile ten yards and across the goalline in the first quarter to give the Knights an early 7-0 lead.

They bumped the lead to 14-0 in the third quarter the Knights put another one in the end zone on a 1-yard run by Max Keefer. The Knights made the initial extra point kick but after a penalty on South, Knights head coach Jared Essler decided to take the point off the board and go for the 2-point conversion. The attempt failed leaving STMA up 13-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Considering the fact Lakeville South averaged over 49 points a game through the season, it was an impressive effort for the Knights to hold the Cougars scoreless through first three quarters. But South started to effectively move the ball on the ground in the fourth quarter.

South quarterback Reid Patterson got the Cougars in the end zone with a 5-yard run early in the fourth to cut the deficit to 13-7.

The Cougars then got the ball back with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game and proceeded to mount a superb clock-eating, sixteen-play drive that resulted in a second touchdown. Josh Jacobson carried it in from two yards out with 21-seconds remaining in regulation.

Justin Loer’s all-important extra point was good, giving South their first lead of the game at 14-13.

With their own hopes of a perfect season hanging in the balance, STMA hustled the ball downfield in the final seconds.

They connected two plays together to travel 39 yards in 19 seconds, paving the way to a shot at a would-be walk-off field goal.

But as the horn sounded, STMA’s 40-yard attempt landed just a couple yards short – giving Lakeville South the 6AAAAAA Section Championship and a perfect season.

South finishes as the only Class 6A team to finish the abbreviated season 8-0. Eden Prairie closed out the year 7-0 and Rosemount went 6-0. They were the only three teams to remain unbeaten.