Mat Mahoney is in his 16th season as head coach. St. Croix Lutheran is no longer guided by Carl Lemke, who retired ranked seventh in state history with 304 wins. 

The Cardinals could still pull some intel from that game as the Crusaders’ power set run game remains the same under fourth-year coach Adam Frey.

Two tight ends and two in the back field is designed for St. Croix Lutheran Academy to bully between the hashes.

“We played these guys in 2011 in the state championship game. We kind of knew what they were doing,” Mahoney said. “Only having basically two formations, we kind of threw everything at them this week. It was a lot of preparation and our guys played awesome.”

St. Croix Lutheran came up dry on the opening drive of the game. It quickly fell behind when Fairmont erupted for a touchdown on its second play from scrimmage.

Senior quarterback Brendan Schmidtke hit senior receiver Landen Meyerdirk in the flats and let his skilled receiver do the rest, breaking tackles and tiptoeing down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown.

“I feel like, personally, our wide receivers and running backs are so talented,” Schmidtke said. “Just get them the ball in space and they’ll make plays.”

Even with a wind chill in the teens, Schmidtke and the passing game were efficient as ever. He completed 11 of 12 passes for 301 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. Schmidtke was one away from tying the school’s single game passing touchdown record.

The Crusaders are a bunch that can’t afford to play from behind given their propensity to try to run and control the clock.

They weathered that issue on their second drive when 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior Evan Valleau running back stiff-armed a would-be tackler to go 66 yards up the gut for a touchdown.

Fairmont had the size and depth in the trenches but St. Croix Lutheran liked its chances if it could get to the second level.

“We knew we had the ability to break some,” Frey said. “We knew that going into the game that if we can break past that front line, we had a chance to get a couple.”

A couple ended up being just one. The Crusaders managed only two other double-digit yardage plays in the game and ran 53 plays for 213 yards. Most of the yardage came on Valleau’s touchdown or in the second half with the result already in hand.

Fairmont ran 51 plays for 516 yards.

A pivotal play on Fairmont’s second possession came on fourth-and-1 from the opposing 35-yard line. The Cardinals faked run left, Schmidtke rolled right and found Levi Pooley unguarded for a touchdown.

St. Croix Lutheran only went three-and-out once on offense. Its ensuing drive made it past midfield before it was forced to punt.

The rout began from there as a 40-yard pass to senior receiver David Maakestad set up sophomore running back Elijah Johnson. He had a 39-yard touchdown on the drive wiped out due to a holding penalty, but he eventually punched it in from two yards out.

Maakestad followed with a 15-yard touchdown. He had three grabs for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Meyerdirk got involved again, hauling in a pass up the seam with a defender’s hand in his face. He made the catch and ran the remaining 40 yards for a 77-yard touchdown.

Meyerdirk finished with four catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He feels his team’s playing its best ball at the right time with a seven-game win streak leading into the state semifinals.

“It feels really good,” Meyerdirk said. “All season, we worked hard for this moment. It’s all coming to fruition.”

Meyerdirk’s score made it 35-7 and it could have been worse at halftime. Fairmont fumbled into the opposing end zone for a touchback with under a minute to go.

It spoiled a remarkable play by Fairmont junior defensive lineman Tyson Thate. He was poised to make a sack before deciding to just take the ball right out of quarterback Jack Thome’s hands inside the 10-yard line.

Fairmont received the ball to start the second half and picked up where it left off. Johnson redeemed himself with a 50-yard rush on the opening play. It set up a 25-yard touchdown pass to Maakestad.

Elijah Johnson’s senior brother, David, got in the mix with a 1-yard touchdown to close the scoring late in the third quarter. He had a 39-yard rush earlier on the drive.

Elijah Johnson finished at 15 carries for 109 yards.

Valleau ran 14 times for 112 yards and a touchdown.

The Cardinals are two wins away from their first state championship. The state semifinal 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 will be their first appearance at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“Our number one goal was to get to the Bank this week to bring our community and our fans up there,” Mahoney said. “That was goal number one. Just proud of them and how they played and their effort.”