Chaska upset Class 5A, No. 2 St. Thomas Academy 20-0 on Wednesday with two touchdowns in the second half and a dominating defense.

The Class 5A, No. 7 Hawks overcame an interception by holding the visiting Cadets to four first downs in the game. The Cadets’ best drive ended in the fourth quarter on a fake punt stopped just across midfield.

The Hawks got a pair of field goals from Nic Snuggerud to take a 6-0 lead into halftime.

The Hawks extended the lead to 13-0 with a 14-yard touchdown run by Griff Wurtz on the opening drive of the second half. The Hawks sealed the victory with a 1-yard touchdown run by Stevo Klotz with 6:41 left in the game.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s 23, Waconia 17 (OT): William Petty ran in a 10-yard touchdown in overtime to propel the Class 4A, No. 3 Red Knights past the visiting Wildcats. The Wildcats sent the game into overtime with a touchdown pass from Collin Currier to Jack Fritz with six seconds left in regulation and Timothy Stapleton's two-point PAT run. Stapleton had a touchdown run and kicked a field goal in the first half to help the Wildcats take a 10-0 lead into the break. Joe Marinaro scored for the Red Knights with 3:54 left in the third quarter. Louie Hyde kicked a field goal to tie the score early in the fourth quarter for the Red Knights. Nick Peterson threw a 23-yard touchdown to Dylan Rash to give the Red Knights a 17-10 lead with 1:28 left in regulation.

East Ridge 35, Stillwater 32: Riley Larson scored three touchdowns to lead the Raptors past the visiting Ponies. The senior quarterback also threw a touchdown pass to Owen Bretoi, and KJ Moore had a touchdown run in the second quarter for the Raptors. Casey Venske ran for two touchdowns and threw touchdown passes to Max Richardson and Luke Cullen for the Ponies.

St. Francis 31, Cambridge-Isanti 28: The Saints held off a fourth-quarter rally by the visiting Bluejackets after building a 21-0 lead by halftime on three touchdown passes from Cody Pennebaker to Trevor Patterson, including a 68-yarder in the first quarter. The Bluejackets scored in the third quarter on a pass from Connor Braaten to Logan Henderson. Braaten and Henderson connected on a second touchdown in the fourth quarter to get the Bluejackets within a touchdown. Braaten also threw touchdown passes to Gaven Ziebarth and Braden Jones for the Bluejackets. The Saints responded to the scores with a field goal and a touchdown pass by Pennebaker. Wyatt Schroeder had a receiving touchdown for the Saints.

Holy Family 21, Watertown-Mayer 0: Nate Tinucci scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns against the visiting Royals and the Fire took its first win of the season. Nick Hendler also scored in the fourth quarter.

Rosemount 35, Eastview 13: Trevor Armborst threw for three touchdowns to lead the Class 6A, No. 10 Irish past the visiting Lightning. Christian Graske ran for two touchdowns in the first half to help the Irish take a 21-7 lead into halftime. Armborst threw his first touchdown pass to Terrance Campbell with 37 seconds left in the first half. Armborst threw two touchdown passes to Jonathan Mann in the second half. Quintcy Suggs ran for two touchdowns for the Lightning.

Milestone for Mahlen

Verndale coach Mike Mahlen became the first high school football coach in state history to reach 400 career victories when the Pirates defeated Rothsay 44-6 on Wednesday. Mahlen, in his 51st season, has a 400-123-3 record. The Nine-Man, No. 8 Pirates improved to 7-1.

STAFF REPORTS