Cardinals fall to late Charger rally in state quarterfinals

ABOVE: Running back Elijah Johson turns down field heading for the endzone during the MSHSL State Championship quarterfinals at Washburn high school Saturday.

MINNEAPOLIS – In a game decided by 2-point conversions, the Dassel-Cokato Chargers converted late in the fourth quarter to take a 1-point lead over the Fairmont Cardinals.

The Cardinals took to the air with only 25 seconds on the clock to make a play, but the Chargers’ defense managed to stall the Fairmont offense and secure a 29-28 win in the Class AAA State Football Tournament Quarterfinals at Washburn High School Saturday afternoon.

Fairmont finishes its season with a 9-3 record, while Dassel-Cokato earned a state semifinals match against Pequot Lakes this Saturday.

“Bottom line, our guys, they played their hearts out,” said Fairmont head coach Mat Mahoney. “They left it all out on the line. Just as a head coach, you just can’t be more proud of a group than I am of these guys. They just constantly have done everything that I’ve asked. And they’ve done it, doing things that are outside of their comfort zone and they’re growing and learning all year.”

Despite a strong defensive outing by the Chargers, the Cardinals’ offense put up some solid numbers in the back-and-forth outing. Leading the Cardinals was running back Elijah Johnson with 23 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Joe Long went 7 for 11 with 150 yards through the air with one touchdown and a 2-point conversion. Cardinals receiver Nolan Schultze caught three passes for 55 yards with a touchdown, while Tavian Harvey caught one for 53 yards. Brett Williams caught two passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, while Hank Artz had a successful 2-point conversion catch.

The fourth quarter was an intense battle of wills with the Chargers striking again two minutes into the quarter from a Caleb Smock run of 15 yards, giving the Chargers their first lead of the day 21-20. The Cardinals’ offense took the field and were seemingly stuck until Long connected with Schultze, converting on a fourth-and-long to keep the drive going and help to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Johnson. The Cardinals managed to convert the 2-point conversion, with Long finding Artz in the corner regaining the lead 28-21.

“We were able to execute very well on offense and move the ball and score points,” said Mahoney. “One of our goals going into the game was that we had to score points in order to win. And, you know, I thought Joe did a really good job of making some plays. That fourth-down play that he had was a huge play across the middle there. Just overall, you know, our offense just had a really good year.”

The Chargers began their game-winning drive with just over five minutes left in the game and managed to get into scoring territory when Smock struck again with a 10-yard touchdown run before the Chargers converted a 2-point conversion to take a 29-28 lead with 25 seconds left in the game.

The Cardinals’ started their final drive with a bit of trickery, laterling the ball around to get downfield. Long took one final shot down the field, but the Chargers were watching for the deep throw and were able to break up the pass, securing their slot in the semifinals and ending the Cardinals’ season.

The first quarter opened with the Chargers deferring giving the ball to the Cardinals, who chewed up just shy of half of the quarter before a sweep by Schultze to the outside opened the scoring for the Cardinals and gave them a 7-0 lead. Within the next five minutes, the Chargers had driven to the Cardinals 1-yard line setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Kobee Thielen to tie things up 7-7 to close out the quarter.

Fairmont began the second quarter with possession but the Chargers held the Cardinals’ offense at bay. The Cardinals returned the favor, forcing a turnover on downs with 9:52 left in the half. Long connected with Harvey for 53 yards, putting Fairmont in scoring position. The Cardinals struck again when Long found Williams for a 20-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-7.

The Chargers took over with 4:58 left on the clock but the Fairmont defense shut them down, bending but not breaking to close out the half.

The exchange between the two teams continued, with Fairmont holding off the Chargers and defending their lead before Johnson hit a gap for 25 yards to find the end zone with 5:41 left in the third and extend the Cardinals’ lead to 20-7 on the back of an eight-play, 65-yard drive. The Chargers battled their way down the field putting together a solid drive to cut into the Cardinals’ lead with 3:44 remaining in the third courtesy of a 1-yard touchdown run by Smock leaving the score at 20-14 ending the third quarter.