First report on the game:

A St. Michael-Albertville defense that was burned by Rogers 16 days ago was fired up for the rematch Friday night, stifling the host Royals for a 21-7 victory in a Class 5A, Section 6 final.

The Knights set the tone by stopping the Royals’ opening drive inside the 5-yard line, reclaiming the ball on downs after forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down. They got a key fourth-down stop midway through the fourth quarter to seal the win that sends St. Michael-Albertville to the state tournament.

Rogers (9-1) had defeated the Knights 38-37 in overtime on this same field Oct. 16.

The Knights (9-1) got touchdown runs from Noah Evans and Chris Kartes and a scoring pass from Jackson Greenwaldt to Austin Wick.

The Royals’ lone touchdown came on the second play of the second half, when Nate Weber found a hole on the right side of his line and cruised 48 yards to the end zone.

Recap: A St. Michael-Albertville defense that was burned by Rogers 16 days ago was fired up for the rematch Friday, stifling the host Royals in a Class 5A, Section 6 final. Rogers (9-1) had defeated the Knights (9-1) 38-37 in overtime on this same field Oct. 16.

Key of the game: The Knights set the tone by stopping the Royals’ opening drive inside the 5-yard line, reclaiming the ball on downs after forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down. They got a rugged stop on fourth-and-1 midway through the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Quote: “Our heart was about twice as big tonight. We came here with some attitude tonight. We knew the better team lost last time and we knew we could hold them. We were hoping for a goose egg.” 
— St. Michael-Albertville senior linebacker Joe Kilian

One thing to know: The Knights are making their sixth state tournament appearance, but they will want to clean up their ball protection if they’re to advance. They fumbled six times in the first half, although they recovered four of them.

MARK EMMERT