Every aspect of Lakeville South’s football program is geared toward getting results in November playoff games.

Specifically, the state tournament quarterfinals, the final game teams play outdoors.

“You have to win a very cold game in order to play in U.S. Bank Stadium,” Cougars coach Ben Burk said. “It’s in the DNA of these kids now.”

Top-ranked Lakeville South outlasted Shakopee 42-28 in Friday’s Class 6A football state tournament quarterfinal played at Stillwater High School. The Cougars (11-0) advance to face St. Michael-Albertville at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Friday’s game also deserved a downtown Minneapolis stage.

Shakopee (8-3), which fell to Lakeville South 30-22 on Oct. 14, saved its best for the rematch.

Down 14-0 in the first quarter, the Sabers fought back and tied the score twice. Junior running back Jadon Hellerud ran for three touchdowns in the game, the last one knotting the score 28-28 in the fourth quarter.

Shakopee’s single wing, installed after quarterback Dominic Jackson was lost to injury earlier this season, relied on runs from Hellerud, Chandler Ross Jr. and Elijah Sandridge behind a mammoth offensive line. The combination was almost enough.

“We all thought this would be the state championship game,” Shakopee coach Ray Betton said. “It looked like that. We played hard. I’m proud of these kids.”

Lakeville South, the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll all season, cranked up its cold-weather-resistant power-T offense for a scoring drive to maintain control.

“If Shakopee scores, we have to score right back,” Cougars senior quarterback Camden Dean said of the unit’s mentality. “There’s no other option. We knew they were driving every time, so we had to keep scoring.”

Burk felt confident.

“We’re at a point now where we don’t think the moment is too big,” he said. “The stakes are higher, but we take a deep breath and know that we’ve prepared.”

Senior running back Josh Jacobson put his team ahead 35-28 midway through the fourth quarter.

Betton believed in his team’s chances to get back in the game once more. Only this time, he planned to go for broke.

“We felt with seven minutes left in the game, we’re going to go down, score, and go for two,” Betton said.

Instead, the Cougars defense came through. Delainey Suraju forced the Sabers into an intentional grounding penalty, and the resulting loss of yardage became too much to overcome.

Lakeville South got the ball back and Dean iced the game with his third touchdown run.

“It hurts,” Betton said. “This one really stings.”

In a game worthy of a Prep Bowl final, Lakeville South beat Shakopee 42-28 in Friday’s Class 6A football state tournament quarterfinal played at Stillwater High School.

The Cougars (11-0), the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll all season, got the go-ahead score from senior running back Josh Jacobson midway through the fourth quarter. They advance to face St. Michael-Albertville at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 at U.S. Bank Stadium

Shakopee (8-3), which fell to South 30-22 on Oct. 14, saved its best for the rematch. The Sabers rallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie the game 21-21 at halftime. Junior running back Jadon Hellerud ran for three touchdowns in the game.

South senior quarterback Camden Dean ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.