State football roundup: New London-Spicer eliminates the Polars

Minneapolis North's first state football tournament appearance since 2003 started with an upset bid but ultimately fell short in a 28-8 loss to undefeated New London-Spicer in the Class 3A quarterfinals Saturday at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud.

The teams were tied 8-8 at halftime before undefeated New London-Spicer put the defensive clamps down and pulled away. Turnovers also doomed the Polars.

"We couldn't get anything going offensively," North coach Tony Patterson said.

New London-Spicer (12-0) advanced to next Saturday's semifinals at the Metrodome. North (8-3), meanwhile, will have to be content with getting as far as it did.

"Overall, it was a good experience," Patterson said. "It's not what we wanted, but I'm proud of our guys."

MICHAEL RAND

Class 2A: Luverne 27, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 0: The Cardinals defense limited the Thunderbirds to 116 yards of offense and forced four turnovers (three fumbles and one interception) in registering the shutout. It was their fourth shutout of the season. Luverne (10-2) built a 20-0 lead at halftime with two touchdowns in the second quarter, the last coming when sophomore Hayden Bauman recovered a fumble in the end zone.

Class 1A: Adrian 27, St. Bernard's 21 (OT): Senior quarterback Brett Nowotny scored on a 1-yard run on fourth down on the opening series of overtime, lifting the Dragons over the Bulldogs. Adrian (10-2) then held St. Bernard's (7-4) on downs. Nowotny tied it 21-21 with a 10-yard run 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Sophomore Dan Hartman completed 23 of 33 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs. Junior Logan Ferrozzo caught 11 passes for 179 yards and one score. St. Bernard's outgained Adrian 401-254.

Cretin-Derham Hall lineman Seantrel Henderson heads the list of the 10 finalists for the Mr. Football award. The other finalists are Beau Allen of Minnetonka, Joel Bauman of Kerkohoven-Murdock-Sunberg, Jacob Brusehaver of Hutchinson, John Crockett of Totino-Grace, Ben Henson of Buffalo, Brandon Marquardt of Champlin Park, Ryan Tri of Eden Valley-Watkins, Zach Vraa of Rosemount and Zach Zenner of Eagan. The winner will be named Dec. 6.

The Wayzata and Eden Prairie boys' cross-country teams took first and second place at the Nike Heartland Regionals in Sioux Falls, S.D. Elk River's girls' squad took second place behind Dowling (Iowa) Catholic. All three Minnesota teams will compete in the Nike National meet Dec. 5, in Portland, Ore.