Travelling to Mahtomedi (1-1) is rarely a fun trip, the Zephyrs are often near the top of the conference in any sport, and they are almost always a tough opponent. With the Raiders football team starting the season 0-2 with two lopsided losses, the realistic outlook did not bode well for optimism for Hastings. Patience and persistence paid off for the Raiders with a dramatic 13-7 win.
Mahtomedi took their opening kickoff at their own 20 and in less than five minutes, they marched 80 yards capped off with a 38-yard touchdown pass to take the early lead. The Zephyr receiver had no Raider within 10 yards of the catch which had Raider fans thinking “Oh no, here we go again”, but that was the only score Hastings would allow the rest of the game.
From that point forward, the defense had a bend but not break attitude. Last week it was Barret Boardman that was causing chaos in the backfield. Boardman certainly had an impact in this game, but the leader of the chaos this week was Hunter Hoff. Unfortunately, most high school statisticians do not keep track of tackles at the varsity level, but if they did, the speculation this week is Hoff would be at the top. Raider fans were caught chanting his name many times during the games broadcast.
Offensively, Hastings struggled at the start of the game. The first three possessions ended with two punts and a turnover on downs. The third possession started with a Mahtomedi punt. Zach Shatek caught the punt near the Raiders 28-yard line and brought it back for a touchdown. That play was negated by a bad penalty call for blocking in the back, bringing the Raiders back to their 43. Foss had two passes nearly picked off and the Raiders were forced into a three and out.
On their next drive, Hastings took possession at their 34 and on the first play from scrimmage, a toss to the left to Cole Zeien gained 6-yards for Hastings, but it cost them their starting running back for the game. Zeien was helped off the field gingerly and Shatek took over the full-time running back duties. A five-yard penalty gave the Raiders the first down.
A deep pass to Matt Foss went just out of bounds putting the Raiders in a third and seven situation at their own 49. Shatek took the handoff, and the blocking was spectacular allowing Shatek to scamper 31 yards for the first down at the Zephyr 20.
Lukas Foss finally connected to a Raider on a pass for a huge first completion of the game, a 19-yard strike to his brother Matt Foss at the one-yard line. Lukas subsequently scored on a one-yard keeper and Adam Schmaltz poked the extra point through to tie the game at seven.
Mahtomedi was struggling offensively as well, especially from the quarterback position. After the first drive, the Zephyrs were struggling with overthrows and poor ball placement in general. They did manage to bring the ball all the way to the Raiders 20-yard line before missing a 37-yard field goal to end the first half.
The Hastings defense held on for the eight-minute, first drive of the second half stopping the Zephyrs at the Raider 8-yard line with a turnover on downs. On the Raiders possession, Mahtomedi finally took advantage of Foss forcing passes to covered receivers nabbing an interception at their own 42.
Hastings forced a punt, and they were off on their own long drive starting at their own 17. Shatek’s quickness out of the backfield was a huge boost to the Raiders offense keeping the Zephyrs off balance and allowing other aspects of the offense to thrive with the play action pass. The 15-play drive only took three minutes and 20 seconds to march 83 yards for the touchdown, a 5-yard run by Shatek.
The final drive of the game was a nailbiter for Raider fans. Mahtomedi managed to get to the Raiders 24 where they had a fourth and six. Connor Finn, the Mahtomedi QB took a quick drop and tossed a lob to the right side of the field for Joseph Pipes, the leading receiver of the night for the Zephyrs. Both Pipes and Shatek went up for the ball on what was a clean play by both players, Shatek perfectly defended the pass. Unfortunately for Hastings, the referees did not see it that way and pass interference was called giving the Zephyrs a fresh set of downs at the Raiders 12-yard line with 54 seconds left in the game. At the high school level, pass interference is a 15-yard penalty.
Mahtomedi managed to get to the five with 33 seconds left and with third and three from the five, they were called for a holding penalty that pushed them back 10-yards. They managed to make it fourth and seven from the nine and an errant pass to the endzone ended the game, giving the Raiders the win.
Both teams had some lengthy drives that ate up a lot of time on the clock. There was a total of seven possessions for both teams which works out to less than two possessions a quarter.
One big key to the game was the officiating. Having TV replay to see the mistakes is an advantage for those watching from home, but it confirms the human nature of the officials who do so at this level. As the pregame PSA says, mistakes will be made by both the players and the officials. For this game, there needed to be less big mistakes that led to big changes in field position, for both teams. Hastings was penalized six times for 57 yards and Mahtomedi 12 times for 100 yards, so this is not a thought process of inequity, just a need to do better.
Offensively, Hastings made 44 plays for 228 yards, 165 on the ground and 63 through the air. Foss threw 16 times completing 6 for 63 yards. Shatek ran 16 times for 108 yards and one touchdown, giving head coach Dana Strain something to think about when Zeien returns healthy. At a minimum, his performance gives the Raiders a chance to breathe a sigh of relief making it, so they do not need to rush Zeien back.
Defensively, the Raiders allowed 316 yards on 62 plays, 102 through the air and 214 on the ground.
Hastings will face Bloomington Jefferson Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at home for Homecoming and then travel to the University of St. Thomas to take on Cretin Derham Hall on Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m.