By Derek Simon

Tuesday night Hastings and Bloomington Kennedy faced off in a first round Section 3AAAAA contest. Both teams entered the night with identical 1-5 records, the Raiders were looking to erase a five-game losing streak dating back to an opening night win over Henry Sibley.

The Section consisted of six teams, the five teams from the Suburban Maroon (Hastings, Park, St. Thomas, Henry Sibley, Apple Valley) and Bloomington Kennedy from the Twin Cities Red. The seedings were shuffled as Park could not play in the section due to the COVID virus. The winner of the Raiders versus Eagles would face top seeded St. Thomas in the semi-finals, while Sibley and Apple Valley would square off in the other semi-final.

On the opening kickoff of the game, the Raiders tackled the returner at his own five-yard line. Stephen Reifenberger then made a big tackle at the ten-yard line, forcing the Eagles to punt deep in their own territory. After the punt, the Raiders started at the Eagles 36-yard line. Hastings would gain one first down before facing a 4th down and seven at the 23yard line. Instead of attempting a 40yard field goal, the Raiders faked the field goal, but the pass fell incomplete and the Eagles would take possession.

The Raiders defense would again hold the Eagles without a first down and forcing a punt. This time, the Raiders drive started at the Eagles 46-yard line. After a holding call, the Raiders faced a second down and twenty-four. Axel Arnold then completed a pass to Joey Millner for 22 yards. Axel Arnold then ran for a first down. Two plays later, the Raider faced another third down. This time Arnold found Rico Cooper on an out route for a first down at the Eagles 24- yard line. The first quarter then would end with a 0-0 tie.

On the first play of the second quarter, Arnold completed a pass to Stephen Reifenberger on a slant route to the Eagles eight-yard line. After a couple tough runs from Payton Burow, the Raiders faced a fourth and two from the Eagle two-yard line. The Raiders then handed the ball to Brenden Freiermuth who ran in for an apparent touchdown. Unfortunately, the Raiders were called for holding on the play, their third penalty of the drive. Hastings would settle for a 27-yard Simon Hedin field goal.

The Raider would drive down the field again, but this time the Eagles made an interception to end the drive. Hastings dominated the first half, shut out the Eagles and only gave up two first downs. However, Hastings could not finish off drives and led only 3-0 at halftime.

The second half started with a short kickoff from the Eagles and the Raiders could not handle the kick. Bloomington Kennedy would recover the kick at the Hastings 30-yard line. The Eagles picked up a rare first down. Two plays later, on third down Lucas Knoll sacked the quarterback. The Eagles would kick a 34-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3.

Hastings started their next drive on their 42yard line. The Raiders offensive line then took over as the Raiders marched down the field running the football. Payton Burow had three carries of ten or more yards on the drive. After seven straight runs, the Raiders had a first and goal at the three-yard line. After another Raiders penalty, Arnold and Reifenberger again connect on a touchdown pass on a fade route. The extra point was no good, but the Raiders regain the lead 9-3 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

On Bloomington Kennedy’s next possession, they would fumble the ball. The Raiders, Jaxon Schiller, would recover at the Eagle 36-yard line. The big play on the drive was a 15-yard quarterback keeper from Arnold to the Eagles eight-yard line. The third quarter would end with the Raiders facing a fourth and goal at the Eagles three-yard line. Simon Hedin would kick a 20-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Hastings a 12-3 lead.

On the Eagles next drive, Cameron Olsen sacked the quarterback inside the Eagles eight-yard line. After a first down, Bloomington Kennedy threw a deep ball near midfield, where Michael Gruwell intercepted the ball. The Raiders then would run out the clock and win the game. The Raiders dominated the game all night long, the 12-3 did not tell the whole story.

The Raiders had the ball for 50 plays gaining 234 yards. The Eagles had just 34 plays for only 88 yards. Hastings ran the ball 39 times for 171 yards and passed the ball 6-11 for 63 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Bloomington Kennedy ran the ball 24 times for 51 yards and were 4-10 passing for 37 yards with an interception.

Hastings individual stats, passing: Axel Arnold 6-11 for 63 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Rushing: Payton Burow 21 carries for 111 yards, Axel Arnold 6 carries for 29 yards, John Chorlton 5 carries for 14 yards, Joey Millner 3 carries for 25 yards, Brenden Freiermuth 2 carries for 2 yards, Jacob Sandquist 2 carries for minus 10 yards. Receiving: Stephen Reifenberger 3 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown, Joey Millner 2 catches for 20 yards, Rico Cooper 1 catch for 7 yards.

On Wednesday, the Governor decided to pause youth and high school sports. The last day any teams would be able to play football this season would be on Friday. On Friday morning, Apple Valley announced they would be unable to participate in their semi final against Henry Sibley due to the COVID virus. This left three teams that could play in Hastings, Henry Sibley, and St. Thomas. The decision was made to play a section final game between Henry Sibley and St. Thomas and that the Raiders season would end. The reasons given were that Hastings was the lowest seed, and that Hastings was able to play a section game previously were the other teams had not. The silver lining in this tough decision is that the Raiders seniors were sent out with a victory.

#45 Jaxon Schiller recovers a fumble for Hastings that resulted in a Hastings field goal. Hastings would go on to win 12-3 over Bloomington Kennedy. Photo by Bruce Karnick