The temperature was cold, but the snow quit falling early in the Class 5A state football semifinal Saturday afternoon between Simley and Spring Lake Park.

Maybe that was all it took to help Simley senior Michael Avwunuma score the game-winning touchdown to send his team to the Prep Bowl. It’s the first year playing football for the Nigeria native.

“I don’t like the snow,” he said. “I had to man up. We needed a win.”

Simley scored with 1 minute, 12 seconds left in the game for a 21-14 victory at Hopkins High School. The 5-yard run up the middle was Avwunuma’s second touchdown of the game.

“I got the ball, so I just ran,” Avwunuma said. “That’s what I do, really. I just ran.”

Spring Lake Park (7-4) tied the score at 14-all with 8:04 left. Simley (9-3) got the ball and with 2:19 on the clock, it was staring at a fourth-and-2 on the Panthers’ 17-yard line. But an encroachment penalty on the defense gave the Spartans a first down.

Faced with a third-down play from the 5-yard line and time running down, Simley took a timeout. The game-winning score came on the next play.

The Panthers got the ball at their 34-yard line with one timeout left. Simley junior Joe Matthews intercepted the ball in the final minute to clinch the victory.

The game was a different story in the first quarter, which saw Simley stopped twice on downs and Spring Lake Park fumble twice. Avwunuma was upset with himself after the first half, coach Rex King said, so they talked during the break.
 
“’You can either pack it in and go home, or you can get your butt out there and figure out that you got a future here,’ ” King said. “ ‘What’s next? What are you going to do to bounce back?’

“He bounced back and this game put him over 1,000 yards for the season,” King said. “That’s huge.”

The Spartans will try for their first state football title next Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. Their only previous state tournament appearance was in 2002.

Simley scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:12 left in the game and defeated Spring Lake Park 21-14 in the Class 5A football semifinals Saturday at Hopkins High School.

Simley scored all its points in the second half.

Check back later for more on the game.