At halftime, Benilde-St. Margaret's coach Jon Hanks conducted what he called a "come to Jesus" session with his entire team, but specifically Gabe Alada.
In the first half, the senior wideout was dropping passes and missing blocks, Hanks said. In the second half, Alada hauled in seven receptions for 93 yards and a pair of touchdowns to help Benilde-St. Margaret's power past Chanhassen 26-0 on Friday night in St. Louis Park.
"I felt way different," Alada said. "Way more confident, way more loose, way faster — it just felt like I could do anything that I wanted to."
His quarterback, Tommy Anderson, finished 13-of-22 for 170 yards, while also rushing for 53 more. That was more than enough for the Red Knights' defense, which limited the Storm (2-2) to just 145 yards.
For Benilde-St. Margaret's (4-0), the task now becomes pushing its second-half performance into the first half as it hopes to defend the Class 4A title.
"We can't start games like this," Hanks said. "We have to start out hard and take people's wills. We're not a team that can start down 14-0. That's hard for any football team, I think. The key is getting on top of people and then we can do something."
MICHAEL HUGHES
