3A: Mpls. North 29, Holy Family 27

Minneapolis North football coach Tony Patterson was drenched, the product of a celebratory dousing from a water bucket. Some of his assistants were drawing a different type of moisture: tears of joy and even disbelief. His players were covered in sweat.

All of it was earned.

The Polars played through mistakes and massive momentum swings, but in the end Friday they gutted out a 29-27 victory over Holy Family in the Class 3A, Section 5 title game. North earned its first trip to the state football tournament since 2003 and will play in the quarterfinals next Saturday in St. Cloud.

"It's unbelievable," senior quarterback Carlton Littlejohn said. "It's what I've been dreaming about for four years."

Playing in front of an emotional and loud home crowd in a 1 p.m. matchup on their light-less field, the Polars grabbed momentum and an early 7-0 lead.

But Holy Family, a Catholic school in Victoria, got going behind a series of clever ball fakes by quarterback Jeff Soule, who either kept it or handed to bruising 225-pound fullback Jay Roane for big gains. The Fire led 14-13 at the break and used a short field after a botched punt to go up 21-13 early in the third quarter.

North responded with a key drive and two-point conversion to tie and went ahead with 7:25 left when Littlejohn -- who had 125 yards rushing and threw a TD pass while also playing the entire game on defense -- scored from 2 yards out and threw for another conversion.

After a Holy Family score with 1:44 left, the Polars stopped Roane on a two-point conversion run. The Polars recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.

North, which went 2-7 two years ago in Patterson's first year as head coach and 4-5 last year, improved to 9-2.

"We took a lot of beatings when they were younger," he said. "And to get where they are now, it's a testament to their dedication. I'm proud of them."