St. Croix Lutheran football coach Adam Frey respects St. Agnes as a program that doesn't make many mistakes.
Which made Frey lament the second-half sequence Friday in which the Crusaders scored a touchdown and then recovered a St. Agnes fumble. Here was the break that visiting St. Croix Lutheran needed to further its upset bid.
Instead, the Aggies defense stiffened. A Dan Plamann interception kept St. Agnes in control. The Aggies (7-0 and ranked fifth in Class 2A) later added a final touchdown in a 35-10 victory.
"We really needed a momentum shift there, and it felt like we could get one," Frey said. "When you don't score off that opportunity, it's a huge deflator — especially when you're trying to come from behind."
St. Agnes stormed ahead 27-3 at halftime, relying on a proven template of tough running and stifling defense.
"We stick to the ground game, and we only go to the air if we have to," senior linebacker/running back Adam Hernandez said. "On defense, we try to win up front and put pressure on their quarterback and shut down their running game. We're a tough team."
The Aggies were tough when they had to be. The Crusaders (3-4) finally breached the goal line as quarterback Tory Wollersheim scored from 1 yard out and cut the deficit to 27-10. Then a fumble recovery by the Crusaders gave them the ball at the Aggies 34-yard line. Hernandez helped push St. Croix Lutheran back, then ran for his second touchdown of the night.
"It's all about resiliency," Hernandez said. "You can't back down when the other team is making plays. We played the way we needed to when we had to."
With the playoffs nearing, St. Agnes coach Sam Thompson said his staff will focus on cleaning up mistakes. Wet conditions and sustained winds Friday at Sea Foam Stadium at Concordia (St. Paul) did not deter St. Croix Lutheran junior Matthew Beekman from booting a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Aggies repeatedly put the ball on the turf in the second half.
"Going into the game, the number one emphasis was that this team would be able to stay with us if we turned the ball over," Thompson said. "And we kept doing that."
