Sports

St. Michael-Albertville Football Storms Buffalo in Section Championship Game

The Knights broke out to a 21-0 lead early in the contest, and led 42-0 at the half en route to a win over Buffalo.

In the first week of the football season, the St. Michael-Albertville Knights needed all 48 minutes to pull out a 21-3 victory over its rival, Buffalo. And it relied heavily on its defense to carry the load. 

Saturday, in front of a solid crowd for a Section 6-5A playoff contest, the Knights needed all of nine minutes to score 21 points, cruising to a 42-14 of the Bison and ending the purple's season. 

"It's just a matter of knowing what we're doing now," said senior Dallas Freeman, whose touchdown catch helped break the game open. "We're so far ahead of where we were in the first week of the season, especially on offense." 

As for the defense, it still helped carry the load in a first half that ended with the Knights up 42-0. They blocked a punt, forced a bad lateral into a fumble, and bottled up Buffalo running back Hunter Thompson. 

"The time off helped," said coach Jared Essler, who team improved to 8-1 on the season. "To get that rest, instead of playing Tuesday, we looked ready to go in that first quarter." 

His starters will have even more rest after sitting out most of the second half. The Knights' second string defense kept the Bison off the board in the third quarter. Buffalo got a couple of late touchdowns to close out the scoring for the day.

For Freeman, it was another step-up game. The senior has created a special connection with quarterback Jackson Greenwaldt, years in the making.

"We've done everything together–baseball, football, basketball. To be here, now, it's a dream come true. We're going to put it all out there Friday," Freeman said.

The Knights will battle Rogers in what should be another epic battle. The two dueled to a 38-37 OT classic that went the Royals' way when a two-point conversion attempt by the Knights came up short. Rogers broke out in the second half to thump Elk River 51-14 Saturday, scoring 41 straight points to overcome a 14-10 deficit. 

"You ask anyone on our team and this is what we wanted to do, was get another chance to play them with a trip to the State Tournament on the line. We feel confident we can go in there and come out with a win. It should be an exciting night, that's for sure," Essler said. 

"Without a doubt," Freeman added. "We knew we would need to go through Rogers to get to our goal, and now we get another chance." 


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