St. Thomas Academy runs past Owatonna in Class 5A football quarterfinals

St. Thomas Academy running back Savion Hart stood at midfield and responded to praise for his monster day with a quizzical look. Congratulated for his five touchdowns, Hart admitted to thinking he scored only three.

"I was so locked into the game," he said. "Because last year we got to this exact spot, and we lost."

Indeed, the Cadets' season ended in the Class 5A football playoffs last season at Woodbury High School. A late-game collapse by the offense didn't help. Determined to start fast Saturday and maintain pressure, St. Thomas Academy achieved both goals, and the resulting 46-28 victory against Owatonna sends the team to the semifinal game at 2 p.m. Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Hart tallied five scores while Owatonna lost three fumbles and threw an interception Saturday.

Swarmed by the Cadets' fast and aggressive defense early and often, Huskies senior quarterback Jacob Ginskey got hit and fumbled away his team's opening possession on the first play. Teddy Knapp recovered to give St. Thomas Academy the ball at the Huskies 6-yard line.

"I tried to scramble, and one of their linebackers made a pretty big hit," Ginskey said. "I probably wasn't holding the ball as high and tight as I should have been."

Three plays later, Hart recorded his 30th rushing touchdown of the season (31st touchdown overall) and tacked on the two-point conversion run for an 8-0 Cadets lead less than two minutes into the game.

"Our defense played amazing," Hart said. "They got us where we needed to be for that first touchdown and get points on the board first."

No. 9 St. Thomas Academy (9-2) kept feeding Hart the ball. He broke a 34-yard touchdown run on the Cadets' next possession for a 15-0 advantage.

Then the Ginskey brothers finally got the Huskies (8-3) going. Quarterback Jacob and receiver Nolan hooked up for a 69-yard touchdown.

St. Thomas Academy bumped its halftime lead to 25-14 while Owatonna fumbled away its final two possessions of the first half.

Hart punctuated his day with touchdown runs of 71 and 39 yards — both of them fourth-down conversions.

"Owatonna is a great team and we faced some adversity, especially those fourth-down plays," Hart said. "As a team, our greatest asset was coming together when we needed to and not breaking apart."

A penalty-filled game resulted in Owatonna coach Jeff Williams getting ejected with 5:32 remaining in the game.