Benilde-St. Margaret’s sophomore Ikenna Ujuagu may clear the path for record-breaking running back Ricky Floyd, but Ujuagu’s real passion is on the defensive side of the ball. 

“That’s hard,” Ujuagu said with a laugh after being asked to decide which he preferred between offense and defense.

“(It) has to be defense,” Ujuagu conceded. 

The fullback and linebacker rushed for 73 yards and delivered several punishing blocks, springing running back Floyd for 258 yards and three touchdowns as the third-seeded Red Knights defeated fourth-seeded Richfield 47-7 in the Class 4A, Section 5 championship on Saturday night at Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School. 

Ujuagu also had a crushing sack of Richfield quarterback Thomas Fallon in the second half and added two tackles for loss.

The win sends the Red Knights to the state tournament and continues their impressive postseason run.

Benilde-St. Margaret's reached the section championship after upsetting No. 2 seed Holy Angels in the semifinals, a game in which Ujuagu ran for for two touchdowns. 

“Ikenna pounds the ball inside, he runs hard, and he also blocks,” Red Knights coach Pat Krieger said. 

Ujuagu's play helps take some defensive pressure away from Floyd, who set a new Benilde-St. Margaret’s single-season rushing record at 1,834 yards with a run in the first half of the section final. 

“Ikenna is a good threat,” said Floyd, who surpassed the old rushing record of 1,643 set by Shane Fox in 2003. “He usually runs the ‘dive’ and he gets a lot of yards from that. So that takes away the attention from me.”

Ujuagu’s defensive pressure helped force a fumble on the game's first possession. The Red Knights recovered the loose ball and scored on the ensuing play. 

“I think that gave us momentum,” Krieger said. “That helped us get going and kind of started it for us.”

There were flashes of potential from the Spartans, including 95 rushing yards and a touchdown from sophomore fullback Jevonte Howard. But three turnovers and several botched snaps made it difficult to gain any traction on offense. 

Richfield coach Jon Wessel conceded that the Spartans did not have the size or the speed of Benilde-St. Margaret's, adding that the strength of the Red Knights' schedule was a testament to how hard they compete. 

“They can play with anybody in the state,” Wessel said. “We just ran into a really good team tonight.”

Junior running back Ricky Floyd ran for 258 yards and three touchdowns to lead Benilde-St. Margaret’s to a 47-7 victory over Richfield in the Class 4A, Section 5 finals on Saturday night at Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School.

Floyd ran for touchdowns of 13 and 37 yards in the first quarter, and he rattled off a spectacular 95-yard TD run with 1:20 remaining in the second quarter to help ice the win for the Red Knights (5-5). 

Benilde-St. Margaret's junior quarterback Will Whitmore threw two touchdowns to senior tight end Riley Simonetti and one to senior wide receiver Cole Jacob. Senior running back Matthew Turnbull also had a rushing TD. 

Sophomore fullback Jevonte Howard finished with 95 yards and a touchdown on the ground for the Spartans (3-7). 

Spotlight Game Coverage