At the beginning of its season, the St. Thomas Academy football team wrote "state championship" on the board, wanting to get back to the school's winning ways.
The Cadets, after Friday, are back in the state title game for the first time since 2006.
St. Thomas Academy held previously unbeaten Moorhead scoreless in the second half, and Mac Brown scored a late touchdown to help the Cadets top the Spuds 17-14 in the Class 5A semifinal. St. Thomas Academy (11-1) advances to the Class 5A championship next Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.
"It's everything we thought of at the beginning of the season," Brown said. "There's no words to describe how happy we all are."
Brown scored from 12 yards out in the fourth quarter on his first and only carry of the night. The senior wide receiver found the end zone with 5 minutes, 26 seconds left to put the Cadets up for good. Moorhead committed a pair of fourth-quarter turnovers as its offense sputtered.
Moorhead (11-1) took an early 7-0 lead on a 2-yard run by Sam Grove. The Cadets responded in the second quarter on Woody Hubbell's 6-yard rushing touchdown. The Spuds regained the lead on an 80-yard touchdown run by senior Devante Delbrune, which came one play after St. Thomas Academy missed a field goal.
Moorhead reached the state tournament for the first time since 2012. The Spuds defeated Andover 47-44 last Saturday to advance to the semifinal.
TYLER MASON
