From where the St. Michael-Albertville coaches stood, it looked short. Barely, but short.

From Mankato West quarterback Robert Meidl’s perspective, it was just far enough.

In the end, the St. Michael-Albertville side was proven right.

After a game with more than 600 yards of total offense and seven lead changes, it came down mere inches of real estate on the field at Saturday at Prior Lake High School. Mankato West came up just short on a fourth down attempt with 2:32 left in the game, it’s offense stymied for one of the few times all night, allowing St. Michael-Albertville to escape with a 31-28 victory in the Class 5A semifinals.

The Knights (11-1) advance to the Prep Bowl for the first time since 1999. Mankato West (11-1) had its 16-game winning streak snapped.

“Inches,” St. Michael-Albertville coach Jared Essler said. “Fingernails. It wasn’t much. In playoff football, one or two plays make the difference. Three inches was all it took.”

Before the crucial measurement, the two teams took turns throwing haymakers in what was clearly a heavyweight bout.

There was St. Michael-Albertville wide receiver Isaiah Weston, catching six passes for 184 yards and adding a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown immediately after Mankato West had taken a 14-10 lead.

“When I saw they were lining up on me man-to-man, I felt disrespected,” the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Weston said. “I wanted to make them pay.”

Weston was nearly matched by Mankato West receiver Brock Annexstad, who finished with nine catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught the fourth-quarter, fourth-down pass that didn’t quite measure up.

“I thought we had it,” Meidl said. “I’m a biased observer, but I thought we got the first down.”

The game, a rematch of the 2014 Class 5A semifinal won by Mankato West, saw the last lead change when St. Michael-Albertville drove 64 yards in eight plays, capped by a four-yard scoring run by sophomore Mitch Kartes. Knights’ quarterback Jacob Veire saved the drive with a savvy scramble for a first down on third-and-10, setting up Kartes’ touchdown two plays later.

“We just had to keep telling ourselves to play our game,” Veire said. “We just kept pushing forward and making plays.”

The victory was another in a series of nailbiters over undefeated foes for the Knights. They defeated previously unbeaten Monticello in overtime in the regular-season finale. It took a field goal as time expired to defeat another undefeated team, Spring Lake Park, in the quarterfinals.

“They had a look in their eye this week,” Essler said of his team’s preparation. “Getting to this game losing last year, and especially with the rematch against [Mankato West], they were very well motivated.”

St. Michael-Albertville advanced to Prep Bowl and got a bit of revenge at the same time, defeating defending champion Mankato West 31-28 in a game that saw seven lead changes.

Trailing 31-28 but moving the ball effectively for the entire second half, Mankato West went for it on fourth-and-8 from its own 40-yard line. The Scarlets came up six inches short.

St. Michael-Albertville ran the clock out after that.

Check back later for more on the game.