Holdingford and Annandale advance to state football tournaments
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
SAINT CLOUD — Holdingford has advanced to the football state tournament.
The Huskers beat Osakis 48-14 in the Section 6-2A tournament Friday at the Fargodome and will compete for their third state title. Seeding for the tournament is Saturday. Annandale also advanced to the Class 3A state tournament, beating Foley at St. Cloud Tech High School in the Section 5-3A championship.
Several teams in the St. Cloud area competed in section championships, but did not advance to a state tournament.
Section 5-2A
Eden Valley-Watkins defeated St. Cloud Cathedral 28-14 at St. Cloud Apollo High School. The Eagles (8-2) have made three state tournaments since 2021, last time winning their second title in 2023.
The Crusaders (7-4) manhandled Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (0-9) and Redwood Valley (7-3) in the section games leading up to the championship, but the powerhouse Eagles improved on their late September win over Cathedral by more than a touchdown. In Week 5 EV-W beat the Crusaders 18-12 in a second-half comeback.
In the championship senior Cathedral quarterback Henry Schloe was 20-46 for 238 yards and two touchdowns but also threw three interceptions. Classmates Jack Weihrauch and Jack Hamak were Schloe’s main targets, the former catching 10 passes for 151 yards and the latter 5 for 28.
EV-W jumped to an 8-0, then 14-0 lead before Hamak caught Cathedral’s first touchdown. But the Eagles added on in the third and fourth quarters. Junior Howie Doke caught the Crusaders’ other TD pass late in the third.
Two-way senior Blake Glenz caught two of EV-W’s passes besides rushing for 123 yards as the Eagle quarterback. Fellow senior Maxwell Torborg had the other pick. Glenz was 7-13 passing for 65 yards.
Section 6-2A
Holdingford’s average margin of victory in this section tournament has been 42.7 points. In succession to Menahga (0-9), Staples-Motley (8-2) and Osakis (9-2), the Huskers have given up 8, 0 and 14 points.
Against the Mainstreeters in North Dakota, Holdingford took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and piled on in the second. The Huskers scored four touchdowns before half, missing one extra point. Osakis scored its two TDs in the quarter, but 14 points in the third sealed Holdingford’s victory.
Senior Husker quarterback Jaxon Bartkowicz and classmate Masyn Patrick were responsible for all of Holdingford’s points, other than sophomore kicker Tatum Manske going 6-7 in extra points. The pair connected for the first TD and another in the third quarter in addition to three rushing scores by Bartkowicz and two by Patrick.
Numbers-wise, Bartkowicz was 15-17 passing for 222 yards, 2 TDs and 1 interception. He ran 13 times for 116 yards and three touchdowns.
Patrick trailed another senior, Nathan Streit, in receptions and yardage, though he got the two touchdown receptions. Streit had nine catches for 146 yards and Patrick had six for 76. On the ground, Patrick had 11 carries for 60 yards.
The last time Holdingford made the state tournament was in 2024 when the Huskers beat BOLD 20-18.
Section 5-3A
Annandale dominated Foley 37-14.
In the bird fight, the Cardinals (10-0) held the Falcons (6-5) deep in their own territory on several drives, forcing punts that positioned them in an advantageous position to win their sixth section tournament in seven years. Maybe 2025 will be the first fall that Annandale wins the Prep Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The quarterfinal games for every class are at neutral sites.
Last year Annandale lost by a touchdown in the state quarterfinal to Pequot Lakes.
Section 6-3A
Albany lost its second and last game of the year 23-6 to Litchfield.
The Huskies (8-2) previously beat the Dragons (8-3) by two points in the first game of the year, but Litchfield outlasted a scoreless first quarter with four consecutive touchdowns. Albany scored a bitter touchdown with less than four minutes remaining in the game at ROCORI High School.
Litchfield dominated the running game behind junior running back Anthony Taylor. He had 195 yards out of the Dragons’ 274 total yardage. Taylor carried the ball 24 times and his senior partner Alexander Medina-Lizarraga had 27 touches for everything else but 18 passing yards.
Albany senior QB Cohen Habben was 10-23 through the air and had 105 rushing yards on 14 attempts. He threw the fourth-quarter five-yard TD to Braeden Justin. Justin, fellow senior Brady Rueter and junior Judah Allen each had three catches, Justin for 40 yards, Rueter for 37 and Allen for 21.
Albany’s senior class is also impactful on defense. Brady Evenson, Reed Moulzolf and Jake Butweiler combined for 27 tackles in their last game and Evenson and Moulzolf had a pair in the backfield. Juniors Hunter and Dylan Hoffarth had seven and four tackles apiece and Dylan had a forced fumble.
Besides Habben, Litchfield held Albany to 47 rushing yards.
Section 2-4A
After ROCORI scored the first touchdown in the second quarter, Marshall converted 17 points unanswered and won the Section 2-4A title game at Southwest Minnesota’s Mattke Field by a score of 17-7.
Senior Caleb Maddox had the lone TD by the Spartans, and the extra point by junior Noah Mick made seven more points than ROCORI scored on Marshall earlier this year. The 2024 state semifinalist Tigers beat ROCORI 29-0 in Week 2.
Section 8-4A
The 2024 Class 4A state champion will not have an opportunity to defend its state title, losing in the section championship 27-26.
Instead, Fergus Falls will have an opportunity for its second-straight state tournament after losing to Albany last year in the Class 3A quarterfinal.
On Friday, Fergus Falls and Becker traded touchdowns throughout the game until Becker junior kicker Brigham Ebert missed his last point-after attempt. Ebert was 17-20 in extra points before the game, but missed three PATs in the championship against the Otters.
Junior quarterback Tristan Kowalkowski was responsible for all four Bulldog touchdowns, running for the first and passing for three more. He connected with classmate Tarver Schendzielos for two passing TDs and senior Sawyer Brown for one.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Holdingford, Becker, Foley, ROCORI, Albany, Cathedral 2025 football
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos