Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted upset second-seeded Concordia Academy 26-7 in the Class 2A, Section 4 high school football quarterfinals for its first win of the season. The win ends an 18-game losing streak for the Lakers that dates to the section playoffs in 2017.
The Lakers jumped out to an early 18-0 lead in the first quarter with a quick-strike offense. They scored on a three-play drive to open the game and then scored their next three touchdowns each on one play.
A.J. Gatz got the scoring started with a 38-yard run. The junior running back then ran 67 yards for a touchdown on the Lakers' next offensive play.
After a botched snap on a punt by the Beacons set up the Lakers with a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line, Bennett Paulson ran in a touchdown on the first play. Paulson later sealed the victory for the Lakers with a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:19 left in the game, which came on the first play after the Beacons were stopped on a fourth down.
The Beacons got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Aidan Kingsbury.
Monticello 19, St. Cloud Tech 18: Calvin Schmitz scored on a 10-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds left in the game to give the fifth-seeded Magic the victory over the fourth-seeded Tigers. Alex Optaz and Sam Valor scored for the Magic.
Elk River 34, Sauk Rapids-Rice 23: The third-seeded Elks built a big lead at halftime and held off the sixth-seeded Storm in the Class 5A, Section 6 quarterfinals. Joe Nord-strom had two touchdowns and Beau Ruby scored one to give the Elk a 22-8 lead at halftime. Carter Otto ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
St. Paul Central 18, St. Paul Highland Park 0: Jahiem Omeally scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the fifth-seeded Minutemen over the fourth-seeded Scots in the Class 5A, Section 4 quarterfinals.
