Nick Rathke powered the win for Fridley, passing for three touchdowns and running for another one.

 

Fridley was superior against Benilde-St. Margaret's 51 to 21 at Fridley High School in Fridley on Friday.  Benilde-St. Margaret's outscored Fridley 14 to 6 to jump in to the lead at the end of the first quarter.  In the second quarter Fridley outscored Benilde-St. Margaret's 24 to 7 and took over the lead. The half ended with Fridley up 30 to 21. Fridley's defense shut down Benilde-St. Margaret's for the rest of the game.  In the third quarter Fridley scored 14 points to keep in the lead.  Fridley scored 7 straight points in the fourth quarter improving its score and winning the game.

 

In the first quarter, Benilde-St. Margaret's's Keaton Studsrud flew down the field 50 yards going all the way for a touchdown.  However, Fridley's Darius Mulbah returned a kickoff for a 90 yard touchdown.  In the second quarter, Benilde-St. Margaret's replied when Mikey Koller flew down the field 64 yards going all the way for a touchdown.  However,. Wiggins drilled a 27 yard field goal for Fridley.  Scoring again for Fridley, Nick Rathke launched a 31 yard pass to Mike Murray good for a TD, assuming the lead 16 to 14.  This was the nail in the coffin for Benilde-St. Margaret's.  Rolling on, Fridley's Mike Murray ran with the ball 2 yards to the goal line for a touchdown.  Benilde-St. Margaret's charged back when Keaton Studsrud flew down the field 38 yards over the goal line.  However then Fridley's Nick Rathke fired a 45 yard pass to Lemarco Brown for a touchdown.  In the third quarter, next, Rathke hit the target again on a 42 yard pass to Lemarco Brown for a touchdown.  Fridley found more success on the ground when Rathke once more rushed 3 yards over the goal line once more.  In the fourth quarter, adding another score for Fridley, Darius Mulbah ran downfield 80 yards going the distance for a touchdown.

 

Fridley's offense dominated in passing and rushing.  Having a huge impact in the air, Nick Rathke went 14 for 21 passing for 229 yards.  On the receiving end Lemarco Brown picked up three passes for 100 yards and had two touchdown grabs.  Powering through the Benilde-St. Margaret's defense all day, Darius Mulbah rushed for 128 yards on 22 carries.  Mulbah scored a touchdown once but dropped the ball once.  Wiggins booted a field goal.

 

The Fridley offense got some help from special teams, who scored one touchdown.  Darius Mulbah scored one touchdown on a kick return.

 

Benilde-St. Margaret's's offense came up short.

 

The Fridley defense contributed to the victory, and kept the pressure up with one sack.  They recovered two fumbles.  They picked off Benilde-St. Margaret's once.