St. Thomas Academy (STA) is never an easy opponent, but adding 40-degree temps and rain, and the game can be downright miserable. That is exactly what the Raiders faced Thursday, October 12, a rainy, cold game against an opponent fighting to show they are legit with their new head coach. The Raiders ultimately fell 40-7.

The Hastings offense is not in a good spot for the remainder of the season with key injuries on the line. The upside of taking their lumps this season is the underclassmen will have a year of experience under their belt next year and hopefully, that will make them much better for the 2024 season. But that means the offense may struggle and there will be growing pains to watch.

For now, we can expect to see a possession list like this against the bigger and more talented defenses of teams like Armstrong and St. Thomas Academy. Hastings had a total of 12 offensive possessions in the game where they ran 49 total plays and gained 145 total yards. Of the first 11 possessions, there were seven punts, one interception and two lost fumbles before the Raiders scored on their final possession, a run by Jack Cloutier with 1:20 left in the game.

Quarterback Lucas Foss was 5-for-12 with 34 yards and one interception. Kyan Esterby was the only receiver with positive yards. Esterby caught four passes for 38 yards. On the ground, Cole Zeien handled the ball 28 times for 124 yards which is a 4-yard average.

Defensively, the Raiders faced a semi new look Cadets team, the players looked mostly the same with Savion Hart as the primary running back and Maximus Sims running the offense, but that did not scare the Raiders from taking advantage of STA’s miscues in the rain. The Cadets lost two fumbles to Cade Kimmes and Charles Wagner, both caused by the Raiders and Hastings’ Sawyer Tjomsland managed to snag two interceptions. STA still managed to garner 438 total yards on 58 plays with Hart leading the way rushing 23 times for 263 yards and two touchdowns enroute to the 40-7 win.

Hastings will host Robbinsdale Armstrong Wednesday night, October 18 at 7:00 p.m. Senior night festivities will take place before the game and Hastings has over 30 seniors graduating, so expect it to start early.

Section 3AAAAA playoffs start October 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the high seed. Hastings is currently in fourth place in the section. With the six-team section, the first and second place teams will receive a bye. That means third place will host the sixth-place team and fourth place will host the fifth-place team. To see where Hastings is ranked after the section meeting, please visit our Facebook page by searching Hastings Journal.