Football Friday: Stillwater Downs White Bear Lake with Last-Second Field Goal

By nature the kicker is either seen as the hero or the goat. On Friday night, Stillwater senior Sam Pearson was the hero.

His last-second field goal pushed the Ponies past White Bear Lake 17-14 in a physical SEC battle on the gridiron—and notched the Ponies second win of the season.

The Ponies put together an impressive drive in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter with running back Nick Anderson hammering out a 3-yard run to center the ball on the Bear’s 10 yard line with 3 seconds to play and the game tied at 14-14.

As Pearson headed out with the kicking team to put the game away, the Bears tried to ice the senior kicker by calling a time out.

But Pearson calmly went back to the huddle and drilled the 27-yard game-winner.

“I actually love it,” Pearson said of being iced by the Bears. “It gives me time to relax, catch my breath, lower my heart rate and get ready. As much time as I can get, I will take it.”

As the kick sailed through the uprights, the Ponies celebration began.

“Amazing,” Pearson said. “This is what you prepare for. I do this for two hours a day, but I am not alone. It was a perfect snap, perfect hold and I was able to get a clean look at it.”

For the second week in a row, the Ponies showed guts and grit in pulling off a victory.

The Ponies started the game with a nine-play, 91-yard scoring drive that was capped off with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Nate Ricci to Charlie Register. The Bears answered that score late in the first quarter with a touchdown drive of their own.

Minnesota’s longest-standing rivals went into their respective locker rooms all knotted up 7-7 at halftime.

The Bears received the kick to start the third quarter and marched down the field to take a 14-7 lead.

But the Ponies answered right back with a 40-yard run by Zach Krenz and on the very next play a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ricci to Joshua Weess.

From there it was all defense.

The Ponies and Bears pounded each other—and then the Ponies got the ball for the last time on their own 39-yard line with three timeouts and just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Ponies offense ate up the remainder of the clock with an 11-play scoring drive that ended with Pearson’s game-winning field goal.

“There isn’t words to describe the feeling of having your long-time friends coming at you, screaming your name,” Pearson said after the game. “Honestly, it unexplainable.”

Overall, the physical, defensive battle was typical of a Stillwater/White Bear Lake football game.

“We’ve been playing this game since 1916 and just about every one of them have been knock-down, drag-out battles on the line of scrimmage,” Stillwater Head Coach Beau LaBore said. “Tonight our guys came with the pads and found a way to make it happen. That’s exceptional when you have a bunch of guys that can be gritty, push the entire game and just get stronger as the game goes on.”

The Ponies (2-0) will host Cretin-Durham Hall (2-0) next Friday at 7 p.m. in another SEC battle.