Football: Alexandria beats Moorhead in thriller to earn Class 5A state tournament berth – Alexandria Echo Press

MOORHEAD – Many people expected the 2024 Section 8-5A Championship game between the second-seeded Alexandria Cardinals and the Moorhead Spuds to go down. The regular season game between these two teams was tightly contested as the Spuds came out on top 36-34 on October 11, 2024 after Alexandria missed a field goal from left field.

Friday’s game had a similar feeling, but a different result. The Spuds led 44-41 with 7:17 left in the game. The Cardinals had the ball, but a great punt by the Spuds pinned the Cardinals at their own 1-yard line. With their backs against the wall, the Cardinals made the biggest play of the game.

At the 1-yard line, Alexandria senior defensive end Chase Thompson connected with senior wide receiver Mason Gorguber for a 99-yard touchdown pass with 7:02 left to give the Cardinals a 48-44 lead and seal the Section 48 victory -44. 8-5A Championship Game Nov. 1, 2024.

“We saw that it was a person-to-person reach, and we wanted to take advantage of that,” Gorguber said. “I ran a quick post and Chase threw me a perfect ball. The rest is history. It was incredible.”

“All the props for that game go to (offensive coordinator) Zach Witt,” Thompson said. “We listened to this play because we saw that their security was compromised.”

Moorhead (9-1) had a couple of chances to regain the lead on several drives late in the game.

Moorhead started its final drive of the night with two minutes left, the ball on its own 22-yard line and one timeout.

The Spuds moved the ball into Cardinals territory, but senior running back Dane Olson robbed the Spuds of all momentum on their final possession of the game.

On 2nd and 10 from the Alexandria 39-yard line, Olson and Moorhead, the Reign wide receiver Battle, catch a pass at the same time near the Alexandria sideline.

Battle and Olson battled for control of the ball, and in the end Olson won the battle for the ball with an interception to seal Alexandria’s 48-44 win and secure a berth in the MSHSL Class 5A state tournament.

“There’s no greater feeling than that,” Olson said. “It was a 50-50 ball and I got it. (Battle) kept trying to get the ball away from me, but I didn’t give up.”

According to Alexandria head coach Mike Empting, it was only fitting that the seniors made the biggest play at the end of Friday’s game.

“It should be,” Empting said. “I was hoping that given enough opportunities they would do big, and they did. Offensively, Chase and Mason have helped us get there all season. Evan Kludt had a great game and we have a lot of guys who have done well all season.

On Friday, Alexandria’s defense faced a tough task trying to contain Moorehead, who is running back Tye Reich.

Reich finished the game with four rushing touchdowns. He led a high-octane Moorhead offense that was hard to stop.

But in the end, and when it mattered most, Alexandria’s defense made enough big plays Friday night to hold off Moorhead.

“We struggled in the beginning, but it’s not always how you start, it’s how you finish,” Olson said. “We adjusted and took some big plays to come out on top.”

“This unit was resilient,” Empting said. “If you look back at our deep run last season, we had players that made plays. We’ve reached a point in the season where talent filters through everything. Talent is starting to match talent, and big players make big plays. .”

On Friday, none of the teams led with a double-digit score.

Moorhead had its largest lead of the night, 16-7, with 3:17 left in the first quarter.

Both teams had interceptions in the final minutes of the first quarter, and Alexandria (8-2) lined up to throw the ball over to Moorhead, trailing 16-7, 39 seconds into the second quarter. Moorhead muffed Alexandria senior Daniel Jackson’s punt, and Alexandria senior Lucas Fernholtz recovered the ball to give Alexandria the ball at the Moorhead 34-yard line.

A muffed punt eventually led to a 4-yard touchdown run by Thompson and started a scoring spree that spanned the entire second quarter and the first minute and a half of the third quarter, where Alexandria outscored Moorhead 28-14.

“The action is huge in games like this,” Empting said. “It was a big lift when we needed it.”

The Cardinals’ first lead of the game came late in the second quarter when senior wide receiver Evan Kludt took a 63-yard pass from Thompson to make it 16-14 with 2:55 left in the first half.

An 8-yard rushing touchdown by Reich followed by a successful 2-point conversion put the Spuds up 24-21 with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Alexandria didn’t lose much early in the second half when it regained the lead, 28-24, on a 7-yard touchdown run by junior Brody Berg.

Moorhead immediately responded with an 80-yard touchdown run by Reich to make it 30-28 with 10:13 left in the third quarter.

Three minutes later, senior Mac Geidt’s rushing touchdown, his second of the night, put Alexandria up 35-30 with 7:01 left in the third quarter.

A 63-yard touchdown pass from Jett Feeney to Rufus Curfee put Moorhead back on top 36-35 with 3:43 left in the third quarter.

The Cardinals regained the lead, 41-36, late in the third quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to Gorguber.

Reich’s 1-yard touchdown run put the Spuds up 44-41 with 10:03 left in the game, but Thompson’s 99-yard pass to Gorguber three minutes later put the Cardinals ahead for good.

“We saw what we wanted and attacked,” Gorguber said.

“They’re two talented teams that traded blows back and forth,” Empting said. “Looking at the Alexandria-Moorhead game in November, I wouldn’t expect it to end any differently. Both teams have talent and are well coached.”

Alexandria is now in the MSHSL state tournament for the second straight season, the third time in the last five seasons and the 13th time in school history.

The MSHSL Class 5A state tournament bracket will be announced Saturday. Alexandria will play in the quarterfinals of the state tournament on Saturday, November 9.

“We have to stay focused and take turns,” Thompson said. “We can’t take anything for granted because it could all be over in a week.”