Facing fourth down and 20 with the clock winding down in the fourth quarter and the Waconia pass rush closing in, Holy Angels quarterback Rook Rowe kept looking for his playmakers.
He found one of them.
Rowe, a senior, slipped out of a tackle, scrambled to his left and threw the ball 50 yards to senior wide receiver Jack Hendrickson, who pulled it down between three Wildcats defenders. Six plays later, Rowe's 1-yard sneak for a touchdown with 29 seconds left and Aaron Sanchez's extra point combined to give the Stars, 7-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A, a 7-6 victory.
"We just threw it up. We have some awesome playmakers and when the game is on the line you want to get the ball to your playmakers," said Holy Angels coach Jim Gunderson, whose team has won 14 consecutive games. "Our mantra is that we keep playing and we play the next play. We were resilient and persistent when we faced adversity."
After giving up the lead, Waconia, No. 5 in 5A, drove into Holy Angels territory. But after a delay-of-game penalty, Tim Stapleton's 48-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds came up short.
Stapleton had provided all the scoring for the Wildcats (6-1) with a 29-yard field goal on the final play of the first half and a 28-yarder that put the visitors up 6-0 with 3:20 to go.
The Wildcats, led by their tough defense, looked poised to wrap up their third consecutive shutout. A personal foul penalty kept the Stars' final drive alive and set the stage for Rowe's fourth-down conversion.
"These were two very good defenses tonight," Gunderson said. "Waconia is just really well-coached and is going to be a contender in 5A."
