Before Friday’s 28-14 victory over Classic Suburban Conference rival Mahtomedi, South St. Paul quarterback Bill Brandecker admitted his team was not about big plays and long runs. Patience, Brandecker said, was the key.

Yeah, right.

The Packers unveiled a potent passing offense and showed off some impressive team speed in their home field victory, getting three long first-half touchdowns and adding another of more than 30 yards in the fourth quarter.

“After we broke off those long plays, we came back to the bench and said ‘Where did those come from?’ ” Brandecker said. “We haven’t had big plays like that all year. We’ve always been a ground-and-pound team, but when we got that first one, it was like a spark happened.”

Despite the unexpected explosiveness, South St. Paul did not make things easy on itself. The Packers turned the ball over twice, including a fumble on their first play from scrimmage, and gave Mahtomedi a gift in the first quarter when they failed to connect on a fake punt from their own 22-yard line.

The Zephyrs turned it into a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard run by backup quarterback Kellen Campbell, who filled in for injured starter Colin Baumgard. That touchdown was one of the few bright spots for the Zephyrs, who did little on offense despite starting five first-half drives from their own 40-yard line or better.

“Our defense played great,” Packers senior defensive lineman Preston Woods said. “It all comes down to watching film and knowing our assignments. I knew this game would be a war and it was.”

South St. Paul tied the score 7-7 on a 67-yard burst by junior Jaden Bjorklund, two plays after Mahtomedi’s score.

The Packers took a 14-7 lead on their next possession when Brandecker floated a perfect pass to Christian Rund for a 71-yard touchdown. They increased their lead to 21-7 when Brandecker raced 76 yards for a touchdown six minutes later.

Brandecker was a dual threat all evening and finished with 255 yards of total offense, including 181 in the first half. He put up career-best passing totals, completing 7 of 10 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. His last pass — a 32-yard fourth-quarter screen pass to Nick Jerhoff — came after Mahtomedi had cut the lead to 21-14 in a 5-yard run by Jackson Hull.

Jerhoff caught the pass, took advantage of a downfield block by Mike Houle and scooted into the end zone to restore the two-touchdown advantage.

“We’re not known as a passing team, but with Bill, we’ve been putting in more time on that part of the game than we have in the past,” South St. Paul coach Chad Sexauer said. “We’re a little bit more balanced. Things are starting to come together.”

 

South St. Paul’s identity was one of patience, slow and sure. The big plays and long runs of years past were not going to happen.

So, of course, the Packers used a series of big plays to defeat Mahtomedi 28-14 in a battle of undeafeated teams at Ettinger Field in South St. Paul.

The Packers scored on first-half touchdowns runs of 67 by Jaden Bjorklund and 76 yards by Bill Brandecker, sandwiched around a 71-yard touchdown pass from Brandecker to Christian Rund.

Mahtomedi cut the deficit to 21-14 in the fourth quarter, but 32-yard screen pass from Brandecker to Nick Jerhoff put the game away for South St. Paul.

Key of the game: Mahtomedi expected a deliberate, three-yards-and-a-splash-of-water approach from South St. Paul on the Packers’ rain-soaked field. What the Zephyrs got instead was a series of haymakers. The Packers scored touchdowns on plays of 67, 71, 76 and 32 yards. South St. Paul took a 21-7 lead at halftime despite not having a first-half drive of longer than four plays.

Quote: “It was feast or famine for us tonight,” South St. Paul coach Chad Sexauer said. “We tried to help [Mahtomedi] out a little bit with some of our mistakes, but I think we showed we’re a little different team than we have been in the past.”

One thing to know: Mahtomedi was held to just 137 yards of total offense. Both of the Zephyrs’ touchdowns came on scoring drives that started deep in South St. Paul territory.

JIM PAULSEN