Providence Academy Falls At Semifinal Game Saturday

A first-quarter track meet turned into the end of Providence Academy's magical state tournament run on Saturday at the Metrodome.

"It was just an absolute track meet," Lions coach Nate Harrington said about the first quarter. "It was like a Holyfield-Tyson fight throwing knock-out punches."

St. Croix Lutheran evaded the PA Lions' 58-29 after a wild 30-29 first quarter in the Class AAA semifinals. The Crusaders rolled up four unanswered scores in response to the Lions resiliant play.

Sam Pellegrene returned a kick-off for the Lions 81-yards for a touchdown after the Crusaders went up 8-0 to get the track meet started. Marshall Klitzke ran 68-yards to pay dirt on the Lions' first offensive play, which tied the game 14-14.

Lions quarterback Jackson Canfield then aired it out for a pair of TD passes to Nick Schmitz for 26 and 34 yards. That pair kept the Lions within clawing distance at 30-29 through one quarter.

Unfortunately, the Lions could not score again to keep their upset bid going against the No. 1-ranked, unbeaten Crusaders. Matt Olson closed the first half for the Crusaders with a 17-yard run for a TD, which gave the Crusaders a 46-29 lead.

The Crusaders scored four unanswered TDs while Canfield could not connect with receivers throughout the second half. He often over threw receivers under pressure.

"They put a lot of pressure on him with blitzs on two out of three plays on our hot reads," Harrington said.

The Lions defense kept the Lions within three scores through 5:15 of the fourth quarter before Jackson Goplen sealed the game for the Crusaders on a 23-yard TD run. The Lions limited the Crusaders only a pair of TDs in the second half, and few Crusaders play went over 20 yards.

"We did well on defense," Harrington said. "We took away their big plays away and made them drive the field. If one or two of those [Canfield pass] plays had gone for scores, that might have made this a different ball game."

Nonetheless, the Lions end a magical playoff run with their first state tournament appearance in the sixth year of varisty football at PA. The school has been open for only 10 years.

"It was nothing short of miraculous," Harrington said. "The players might not feel that way at the moment, but they really accomplished something special."

The Lions (10-3) had won only one playoff game prior to this season.