The Hastings Raiders football team played host to the Cadets from St. Thomas Academy (STA) on Oct. 10 at Todd Field. It was the Raiders senior night and a huge section 3AAAAA game that will have an impact on the section seeding. Hastings came into the game 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the section while STA came into the contest at 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the section.
STA received the opening kick and took the drive into Raider’s territory before the Hastings defense forced the Cadets to punt. A perfectly executed punt put the Raiders at their own one-yard line to start their first drive of the game.
The Raiders quickly moved out of the shadows of their goalposts, largely thanks to a 28-yard pass from Lukas Foss to Matt Foss. The Raiders kept moving with runs by Zach Shatek and Grant Birken. With each team having one possession of the game, the first quarter quickly expired largely due to the clock only stopping once on a STA delay of game penalty before their punt. Hastings made their way to the Cadets 17 and a fumbled snap ended the run when STA recovered on their own 19.
Both teams were eating up the clock and that trend continued with STA running on their second possession. The Cadets second drive ate almost six minutes off the clock before they punched it in for the first score of the game. The kick for the point after touchdown (PAT) was good.
Hastings started their second drive at the 50-yard line thanks to a crafty trick return where Cole Zeien caught the kickoff at the five and quickly handed the ball off to Shatek for the reverse. Shatek took off down the Cadet sideline and was tackled at the 50.
The Raiders were finally in a spot to open the offensive playbook and Offensive Coordinator Jason Koch did a great job mixing up the plays and Hastings methodically marched down the field with key runs by Zeien, Shatek and Lukas Foss along with some great catches from Jack Cloutier and Marlowe Strain including a controversial yet beautiful catch in the endzone.
The Raiders were set up on the 9-yard line and Foss stepped back to throw. Strain was running down the Raiders sideline where he was pushed nearly 3-yards out of bounds by a Cadet defender. Strain made his way back onto the field for the contested catch in the endzone bringing the Raiders to within one. The PAT was blocked and with 33 seconds left in the half, the score was 7-6 Cadets.
The first half took less than 40 minutes real time for 24 minutes of game time. The game moved so efficiently with so few clock stoppages, both teams only had two offensive possessions. The way the game was going, it was clear that coming away with points for each possession was going to be vital.
Hastings took the opening half kickoff to their 26. The Raiders relied heavily on the pass for this drive and several big receptions by Birken and Matt Foss kept them moving downfield. 12 plays later, Foss connected with Birken for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders the lead. Hastings went for two points and were unable to convert.
STA returned the kickoff 48 yards to the Raider 48-yard line giving them great field position. Nine plays later, the Cadets scored taking the lead back 13-12 and the two-point conversion failed.
Field position was not the Raiders friend on the ensuing kickoff, Lane Hoffman received the kick at the two and mishandled it. He was able to pick up the ball, but the Cadets were already there forcing the Raiders to start at their three-yard line. Three plays later, Hastings was punting. This drive was plagued by special team’s miscues and the punt was not immune. The snap went over Adam Schmaltz head, and he was quickly able to recover, but that also means he had to rush the kick. Schmaltz managed to still punt the ball, but it was not a great kick. It did however take a great Raider bounce ending at their 37-yard line. STA quickly moved 37 yards to score going up 19-12.
Isaiah Leverne returned the kick to the Hastings 44 and the Raiders moved into STA territory before the drive stalled at the Cadets 40. Four plays later, STA was up 25-12 which is where the game ended.
Offensively, Hastings 48 plays for 240 yards. Lukas Foss went 14 for 17 (82%) for 163 yards. Matt Foss had three receptions for 77 yards, Grant Birken had four receptions for 38 yards and a touchdown, Jack Cloutier had three receptions for 27 yards and Marlow Strain caught three for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Several Raiders had rushing attempts as well. Zach Shatek had 18 carries for 29 yards, Cole Zeien had six for 18 yards, Grant Birken went 18 yards on four carries and Lukas Foss ran three times for 12 yards.
The Raiders defense held the Cadets to 282 yards of total offense on 43 plays.
The biggest contributing factor to the Raider loss was field position. When Hastings had a shorter field, they were able to maintain the drives and score. Overall, both teams played a clean game with only two penalties being called, both on STA for a total of 15 yards. There was only one turnover, a fumble by Hastings and the Cadets were able to convert that into seven points.
The general consensus after the game was that the Cadets are not the powerhouse of old and if a few minor things were cleaned up, they are beatable in the playoffs. The issue at hand here is how will the section seed the teams. Currently, Two Rivers is the team to beat in the section at 7-0 overall and 2-0 in section games. STA is 5-2/2-0 and in second place. Hastings is in third currently at 3-4/1-2 with Bloomington Kennedy behind them at 4-3/0-1. Apple Valley is fifth at 2-5/1-1 and Bloomington Jefferson is 2-5/0-2.
Playing things out, the top two seeds get a round one bye which leaves some combination of Hastings, Kennedy, Apple Valley and Jefferson. The way things go in the section meetings, expect Kennedy to get the third seed, Hastings four, Apple Valley five and Jefferson six. That means a likely Apple Valley at Hastings for round one with the winner travelling to Two Rivers for round two.
For now, Hastings has one game to worry about, Robbinsdale Cooper. Cooper is currently 6-1 with their only loss to Armstrong and Cooper is the 11th ranked team in the state. This away game will not be an easy one for Hastings to come away with a win, but a win would certainly solidify their argument for the three seed in the section. The game at Robbinsdale Cooper is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7:00 p.m.