Section Football: Stars Have to Contend With South St. Paul Defense

It's up to Holy Angels to carry the flag for the Missota Conference after league champion Shakopee—the only team to beat them during the regular season—had an upset in the first round of the playoffs.

THIS WEEK

Holy Angels hosts South St. Paul in the Section 3AAAA semifinals.

LAST WEEK

Holy Angels (8-1) beat Henry Sibley 21-7; South St. Paul dumped Chaska 62-6

THE FIRST TIME AROUND …

The Stars and Packers did not meet in the regular season.

PACKERS WIN IF …

This game shapes up as a must-see battle between the Packers' defense and the Holy Angels offense. South St. Paul has been dominant on 'D' this season. They've surrendered a grand total of 54 points—with half of those coming in a 27-21 in a loss to Mahtomedi—and posted four shutouts.

STARS WIN IF …

They can find an occasional favorable matchup. The Packers defense is going to be able to neutralize a lot of their playmakers a lot of the time, but with the number of weapons Holy Angels has, some of the playbook will be working Saturday. It will be up to quarterback Sam Keis to make the right reads, and for the other skill position players to do as much damage as possible when they have the ball in their hands.

2010 PLAYOFFS

Holy Angels lost to St. Thomas Academy in the semifinals. South St. Paul lost to St. Thomas Academy in the section finals.

SECTION 3AAAA SCHEDULE

Quarterfinals

Tuesday

South St. Paul 62, Chaska 6

Holy Angels 21, Henry Sibley 7

Simley 49, St. Louis Park 13

Semifinals

Saturday

North St. Paul at Holy Angels, 7 p.m.

Simley at St. Thomas Academy, 7 p.m.

Finals

Friday, Nov. 4

Semifinal winners, at high seed