Recap: After an 0-4 start to the season, Andover won its sixth consecutive game to advance to the Class 5A state tournament, led in part by senior Jacob Geier. The North Dakota-bound receiver scored two first-half touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — to put the Huskies up 14-0. St. Francis, playing at home, responded before halftime to cut the lead to 14-7, but a third-quarter score by the Huskies was too much for the Saints to overcome. Andover will play Moorhead on Saturday in St. Cloud.

Key of the game: Andover passed early and often, and St. Francis struggled to adjust defensively. Huskies quarterback Jeremy Neuman threw a pair of touchdowns — one to Geier, one to wide-open Adam Perrin — and kept the Saints’ secondary on its toes. Neuman attempted 30 passes in the first half alone, including on 14 of the game’s first 16 plays.

Quote: “It’s amazing. We really pulled together as a team after our first four losses. We got the next four, and then we’re here now.” — Geier, on his team responding after starting the season with four losses.

One thing to know: Top-seeded St. Francis ends its season with a 7-3 record. The Saints advanced to Friday’s game by scoring a touchdown with 16 seconds left against Chisago Lakes in the section semifinal. 

TYLER MASON

With a 21-14 victory Friday over top-seeded St. Francis, No. 2 Andover claimed the Class 5A, Section 7 championship.

The Huskies advanced to the state tournament on Oct. 31 with their sixth consecutive victory after starting the season 0-4.

St. Francis’ season ends with a 6-3 mark after the home loss. The Saints needed a last-minute touchdown one week earlier to advance to the section finals.

Andover jumped out to a 14-0 lead after two touchdowns by senior Jacob Geier. The first of Geier’s two scores came on a 2-yard run on a direct snap. Geier later hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jeremy Neuman early in the second quarter.

The Saints got on the board with a touchdown run from fullback Isaiah Brunette, who rumbled in from 5 yards out to cut Andover’s lead to 14-7 with 5:46 left in the first half. That score held at halftime.

St. Francis couldn’t capitalize on an 8-minute drive to open the second half and turned the ball over on downs. Andover responded with an 84-yard touchdown drive, punctuated by a 27-yard touchdown pass from Neuman to Adam Perrin. That put the Huskies up 21-7, which proved to be too much for the Saints to overcome.

Trailing by 14 points, the Saints turned the ball over on downs with 4:52 left. St. Francis got the ball back one more time and scored on a pass from Hunter Trautman to T.J. Hoeschen with 32.9 seconds remaining. The Saints’ onside kick was recovered by Andover.

Check back later for more on the game.