Walking across the field after his team’s 12-7 victory over previously undefeated St. Michael-Albertville, Totino-Grace coach Jeff Ferguson sidled up to his stellar noseguard, Luke Kubesh, who was talking to reporters.

Ferguson threw an arm around Kubesh. “Don’t say anything stupid,” he said with a laugh.

The way he played Friday at St. Michael-Albertville Middle School Weste, anything the 5-11, 280-pound Kubesh said would have been OK. He led a Totino-Grace defensive line that spent much of the game making a mess of things in the St. Michael-Albertville backfield, keying a defense that shut down the potent Knights down all game, save for one drive.

“We just keep hammering, keep hammering,” said Kubesh, who had at least three tackles for loss and forced an errant throw that resulted in an interception return for a touchdown. “I think that was one of our better games. We just came to play.”

St. Michael-Albertville (4-1) had been the darlings of the first half of the season. The Knights moved up from Class 5A and dominated its first four opponents behind the metro area’s best two-way player in Mitch Kartes.

On the other side, Totino-Grace (4-1) was surviving with a slew of youngsters and a battered set of skill players. The Eagles had won three of their first four games but had actually been outscored on in the first three combined.

“You know what?” Ferguson said, nodding toward the St. Michael-Albertville players. “That is a really good team. I would have picked them to win.”

The game was scoreless until late in the first half, when Isaac Richards intercepted an errant pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 halftime lead.

Things looked bleak for St. Michael-Albertville when Kartes was knocked from the game in the third quarter after injuring his knee making a tackle. The Knights rallied, however, and put together their lone scoring drive, capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Krupke to Xavier Thurman early in the fourth quarter.

Totino-Grace’s offense, which had sputtered all game, answered with an impressive drive of its own. The Eagles went 80 yards in eight plays, getting the game-winning touchdown on a four-yard run by Charles Kamara with 2:39 left.

“Our defense was really good tonight,” Ferguson said. “But what about the offense? To have that drive when we needed it, that was big. I’m so proud of these guys.”

This wasn’t how anyone in St. Michael or Albertville pictured it. This was supposed to be a coronation.

Instead it was a statement: Totino-Grace is still the champ.

The Eagles sputtered on offense for most of the game Friday but put together a beauty of a drive when they had to, answering a St. Michael-Albertville touchdown drive with one of their own to emerge with a 12-7 victory.

Totino-Grace went 80 yards in eight plays, getting a four-yard scoring run from Charla Kamara with 2:39 left to stun an estimated homecoming crowd of 4,000 at St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West.

Trailing 6-0 late in the third quarter and with star running back/defensive back Kartes out – he was injured making a tackle in this third quarter -- the Knights turned to speedy junior Ethan Briggs. Listed generously at 5-8 and 160 pounds, Briggs brought quick feet and a change of pace to the offense. Briggs found the corner for runs of 20 and 14 yards, providing a spark the Knights desperately needed.

It paid off with back-to-back completions from Marcus Krupke to Xavier Thurman, the second one a 15-yard touchdown to give St. Michael-Albertville a 7-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Totino-Grace defense, the Eagles’ strength all season, showed its state-championship pedigree in the first half.

With dominant play by its defensive line of Luke Kubesh, Zach Collins and Matt Heuring, an attacking corps of linebackers and fast and opportunistic defensive backs, the Eagles kept St. Michael-Albertville’s vaunted running game in check, forcing two punts and three turnovers.

Two of those turnovers were crucial had a direct effect on Totino-Grace’s 6-0 halftime lead.

St. Michael-Albertville put together its most sustained drive of the half late in the first quarter, eventually reaching the Totino-Grace 4-yard line. But the Knights fumbled on third-and-goal and the Eagles recovered at the seven, ending the threat.

While the Eagles struggled to sustain much offense, never crossing midfield, the defense became offensive, resulting in the only score of the half.

Kubesh, a 280-pound unstoppable force in the middle, pressured St. Michael-Albertville quarterback Marcus Krupke and forced an errant throw in the flat. Defensive back Isaac Richards picked off the pass at the Totino-Grace 35 and raced untouched into the end zone. The extra point missed, but Totino-Grace held a stunning 6-0 lead as halftime loomed.