Sports

St. MIchael-Albertville Football Wins Muddy Crow Battle

With a pair of second half touchdowns, the Knights fought their way to a seventh consecutive victory over Buffalo.

Wideout Michael Wiese and quarterback Cole Krutzig kept up their incredibly chemistry through the air, and a new horse merged on the ground in sophomore Chris Kartes as the St. Michael-Albertville Knights picked up a 14-6 win over Buffalo on Homecoming night.

The Knights snapped a two-game losing streak and extended their winning ways over their "Muddy Crow" rival to seven, thanks to a huge hitch-and-go from Krutzig to Wiese in the third quarter that snapped a 0-0 tie and gave the Knights all the momentum.

"That's just a great play dialed up by Keith (Cornell) and we were able to execute it. We had it last week against Big Lake, and we just missed. Tonight we made the play, and that really got the offense going," said head coach Jared Essler.

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"We knew the hitch had been working, and the coaches told us the hitch-and-go would be there for a score later on. They called it perfectly," Wiese said. "It was huge."

Later, Kartes would find a seam on the right side and roll in from 16 yards out, the sophomore's first varsity touchdown. It sealed a drive that consumed much of the fourth quarter.

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But it was the defense, Essler said, that picked the team up.

"Football's a funny game. We had a game here two weeks ago where the offense was going pretty good against Rogers, but we couldn't get a stop defensively. Tonight, against a team that's scoring 30 points a game, we were able to control them and get off the field," Essler said. "That's just the way it goes."

Now 3-2 and 2-2 in the Mississippi 8, the Knights will travel to Cambridge-Isanti to battle the Blue Jackets, who are currently last in the Mississippi 8. Then, it's matchups with Monticello and Elk River to close out the regular season.

"It's a big win. It's homecoming, so you want that. But we feel like we have three games ahead of us we can win," Wiese said. "This gets us back on track."


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