Gunhus' Three Rouchdowns Leads Sabers to 48-14 Homecoming Win

The Shakopee Sabers gave their upcoming opponents something to think about on Friday—the threat of a passing game.

Shakopee, ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, beat New Prague 48-14 in the Sabers’ homecoming game. The Sabers remained undefeated at 5-0 and have outscored their opponents by an average of 29 points this season.

Jordan Gunhus scored three touchdowns and Zak Hoffman had 121 yards rushing and a touchdown running and passing for Shakopee, which tallied 511 yards of total offense. The Sabers had 161 passing yards n just six completions.

“We don’t really pass that much,” Gunhus said. “We kind of worked on it a lot this week. The coaches just wanted to work on passing a lot because all the teams know we’re just a running team. It paid off too.”

Gunhus caught four passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns and opened the scoring with a rushing touchdown early in the first quarter for the Sabers. Hoffman was 3 of 5 passing for 63 yards and a passing score. Nick Larson was 3 of 5 for 98 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Larson connected with Matt Conrad with Matt Conrad for a 48-yard touchdown pass on 4-and-8 with just over four minutes left in the second half to put Shakopee ahead 21-6 at halftime.

“We need to keep finding ways to elevate our passing game,” coach Jody Stone said. “We have such a good running game that we don’t really work on the passing game enough. It’s hard to do. Its like, ‘Hey, we just got an 8-yard run. Now let’s throw the ball. We just got a 20-yard run, let’s throw the ball.’ We kind of have to force ourselves to throw the ball.”

The Sabers outscored Farmington 28-0 in the second half last week and scored on two of their first three offensive plays against New Prague Friday.

Gunhus caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Hoffman to start the second-half scoring. After Shakopee’s Brady Fish recovered a fumble on the kickoff, Larson connected with Gunhus for a 42-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

“Within the Missota, we’re a little deeper team,” Stone said. “We play a lot of guys both ways, but we rotate them. So, I think it really helps to we’re just breaking a good sweat by the time we get to halftime. We’re full of energy.”

Fish had two interceptions on defense. Connor Neal added a rushing touchdown for the Sabers, who set up an important showdown next week with Holy Angels. The two teams entered play Friday tied atop the Missota Conference with 3-0 league records.

“It’s pretty much going to decide the conference, I think,” Hoffman said. “We’re ready.”