Holy Angels football coach Ray Betton knew there would be an end-of-season payoff for the Stars. The biggest challenge was navigating a minefield of a regular season to get there.

After defeating Kasson-Mantorville 21-14 in the Class 4A quarterfinals Friday, Holy Angels has won three consecutive games after going 3-5 during the regular season. The Stars play DeLaSalle on Friday at the Metrodome for a shot at playing in the Prep Bowl.

"We play in a very tough conference," Betton said of the Missota Conference. "We're a 4A division team playing against bigger and faster 5A and 6A teams. We felt that our time would come."

From the first day of summer workouts, Betton and his staff emphasized to the players that they may take some lumps during the regular season but come playoff time, it would all have been worth it.

"We've felt that we've had the talent to be state-caliber team. We would have been very upset if we didn't make the playoffs," Betton said. "We beat a very good football team in Kasson-Mantorville. They had the speed and the size, but that was something we had experienced before. Not many things are going to surprise us."

Just to make sure everyone was on the same page, Betton called a team meeting just before the playoffs began, stressing the importance of hanging together.

"We got a lot of things out," he said. "Since then, our practices have been better, our play has been better, everything has been better."

Cooper, Fridley forge partnership for hockey

With a shrinking Cooper boys' hockey program, the Robbinsdale School Board approved a one-year partnership with Fridley for the 2013-14 season. The partnership likely will not be enough to spare the Hawks program from consolidation.

"I know we've been talking about, 'If we don't have enough players, what are the next steps to ensure players can have a good, competitive hockey option?' " Cooper principal Christina Hester said.

One option is merging with Armstrong. The girls' hockey programs from Armstrong and Cooper joined forces beginning with the 2011-12 season.

Fridley's former home, the North Metro Stars boys' cooperative, folded after the 2011-12 season. The Stars were a co-op of Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights, Fridley and Park Center. Players from three of those schools can now compete for Osseo.

Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737