No. 4 Wayzata football takes down No. 3 St. Michael-Albertville

The No. 4 Wayzata Trojans defeated the No. 3 St. Michael-Albertville Knights 34-14, Friday evening at Wayzata High School.

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Wayzata received the opening kickoff of the game and wasted no time putting points on the board. Senior quarterback Ryan Harvey had a couple of big completions to help lead the Trojans down the field. From there, senior running back Julian Alfaro-Diedrich took care of the rest. He finished the drive with a touchdown run to put Wayzata up 7-0 with 6:54 left in the first quarter.

On Wayzata’s next possession, Alfaro-Diedrich broke off a 21-yard run to put the ball on St. Michael-Albertville’s one-yard line. Penalties backed the Trojans back to the 7-yard line, where Alfaro-Diedrich would run it in to finish the drive and make it 14-0 Wayzata with 2:18 left in the first quarter.

The Knights would lead a drive into the red zone following a big third-down catch by senior wideout Ryan Maynard. That would lead to a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jarrett Bennett to make it 14-7 Wayzata with 6:48 remaining in the first half.

On the next Trojan possession, Alfaro-Diedrich would continue to carry Wayzata’s offense. He brought them down the field with two big runs. Then capped off the drive with a beautiful 25-yard touchdown run, his third of the half, featuring two spin moves, to make it 21-7 Wayzata with 4:46 left in the second quarter.

The Knights would go three-and-out on the first possession of the second half. The snap would go over the punter’s head and give the ball to Wayzata on the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Wayzata would fumble and the Knights recovered to save the touchdown and get the ball back.

St. Michael-Albertville then put together a long, time-consuming drive, where they converted two fourth-down attempts, all the way to the red zone. Bennett broke off a 17-yard run to the 3-yard line. Junior running back Conner Luongvan then scored on a touchdown run to make it 21-14 Wayzata with 4:20 left in the third quarter.

Wayzata would answer back. Senior tight end Jack Kinsey had a 25-yard catch to help bring the Trojans down the field. On a fourth-down, senior wideout Drew Berkland was able to get open and reel in the first down for Wayzata. On the first play of the fourth quarter, #11 ran it in from five yards out, for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game, to make it 28-14 with 11:54 remaining. The touchdown capped off an 11 play, 71-yard drive for Wayzata.

The Knights were putting together a drive to try and get back in the game, but it was ended when Wayzata recovered the fumble from a strip-sack to give the Trojans the ball back with just under five minutes left in the game.

Alfaro-Diedrich would then cap off the game with his fifth touchdown run of the game to make it 34-14.