Stewartville routs Annandale in MSHSL Class 3A Prep Bowl
MINNEAPOLIS — The Stewartville Tigers (14-0) defeated the Annandale Cardinals (13-1) 43-13 in the Minnesota high school football Class 3A Prep Bowl on Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium. It's the first state title in Stewartville history.
"It’s about the relationships that we’ve built with each other, but now to have another memory to where we can put a state championship into a trophy case is just crazy," senior quarterback Henry Tschetter said.
The Tigers accrued 471 yards of offense and only allowed the Cardinals to earn 190.
Stewartville started the game with a 10 play, 70 yard drive and a touchdown from Carter Miller on a screen pass from Ayden Helder for a 7-0 lead.
"Nobody can really play as fast as us for four quarters of football, so we knew what they were going to do, so it was really about getting those first nerves out on that first drive," senior Ayden Helder said. "From there on we just played our football."
The Cardinals executed a similar drive on their first one. Connor Lampi finished a 68-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown.
Stewartville scored late in the second quarter. Miller scored his second touchdown of the day on a 4-yard run to give Stewartville a 14-7 lead entering halftime.
The Cardinals entered halftime down but lucky to only be down seven. The Cardinal defense forced two Tiger field goal attempts from just over 30 yards, but the Stewartville kicker missed them both.
The Tigers held the Cardinals to only 83 yards of total offense in the first half.
The second half begun much like the first half. Annandale threw an interception on its first drive, and Stewartville marched 69 yards, and Miller punched in another short-yardage touchdown for a 21-7 lead.
Annandale fumbled and gave the ball to Stewartville deep in its own territory to end the third quarter. The Tigers punched in another touchdown when Helder scored from 1-yard out for a 27-7 lead.
"We knew we had to ball control a little bit," Annandale head coach Matt Walter said. "... We got a little antsy with the game plan because we knew probably three drives in we were going to have to score 35. We kind of got off our game plan a little bit."
The Tigers added two more touchdowns to pull away. Helder found Tegan Malone for a 44-yard passing touchdown, and Tarin Conlin rushed for a 1-yard touchdown.
Miller finished with 144 rushing yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns. Helder went 15-for-23 for 206 yards and one touchdown.
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