Shakopee beats Holy Angels, photo gallery added

There was an order of operation after Friday’s 10-7 road win against the Academy of Holy Angels in presumably the battle for the Missota Conference crown.

The Shakopee football team, beaming from ear to ear after shaking the Stars’ hands at midfield, knew that before any chants were yelled or any coaches’ speeches were addressed, the Sabers needed to take care of business.

They needed to celebrate with their fans.

A slew of red and black packed the visitors bleachers at the StarDome in Richfield, which helped equal out the Stars’ home field advantage in the most important game in both teams’ season. It was only fitting the Sabers helped share their win with their fans when the clock hit zero.

“It was a pretty good thing, because our fans have been waiting this whole year (for this game),” senior quarterback Zak Hoffman said. “They were like, ‘We’re going to the Holy Angels game.’ It’s the biggest game of the year.”

The Sabers didn’t disappoint.

There were no surprises on Friday. Holy Angels used its speed to attack the perimeter, while Shakopee used smash-mouth running to drive the ball up the middle.

Sabers coach Jody Stone joked that if the teams put both styles together onto one squad it would yield a state championship. But he and his Sabers had to settle for wearing the Stars down one play at a time.

“We didn’t expect anything less,” Stone said.

It just took some time.

The two unbeaten squads entered the third quarter scoreless in front of a packed house, and with 42 seconds left in the third the Sabers broke through. Junior kicker Alexi Johnson kicked a 25-yard field goal to give Shakopee (6-0, 5-0 Missota Conference) to take a 3-0 lead.

After stopping Holy Angels’ next offensive drive, Shakopee went back to work. This time, on the 18-yardline, the Sabers connected on a touchdown pass from Hoffman to senior Nicholas McBeain.

The harsh rushing attack used all game long set up a wide-open touchdown reception with the game on the line.

“That was the play we just added this week,” Hoffman said. “We knew it was going to work against them, because they always pursued to our sweep. We’d just throw it back because no one was going to be there.”

Holy Angels (5-1, 4-1) got on the scoreboard with 2:41 remaining in the fourth on a 10-yard touchdown pass, but it was too late. The Sabers snuck out of Richfield with the victory.

“It was the game we had to win,” Hoffman said. “We just came out and beat the heck out of them.”