After a scoreless opening quarter, Benilde-St. Margaret’s racked up 20 points in the second quarter, catapulting the Red Knights to a 40-0 win over Fridley in a Section 6AAAA quarterfinal game.

The victory also avenged BSM’s 30-point regular-season loss to the Tigers, a game which Fridley won, 51-21.

In that loss, quarterback Keaton Studsrud rushed for a career-high 241 yards but managed just 56 yards passing. In defeating the Tigers, he rushed for 157 yards and added 166 through the air.

Studsrud accounted for the Red Knights’ first score of the game when he took the ball off the right tackle for a four-yard touchdown to cap a six-play, 73-yard scoring drive.

It was the first of three consecutive possessions on which BSM would score. The Red Knights went 89 yards on six plays the next time they got the ball with Studsrud scrambling left before throwing down the middle of the field to a wide-open John Backes to complete a 56-yard scoring play.

BSM would get the ball back on its own 25 with just 1:51 to play in the first half and, on the first play of the dirve, Thomas Gorrilla took the ball to the Fridley 20. Three plays later, Studsrud found Mikey Koller for an 18-yard scoring pass to send the hosts into the lockerroom with a 20-0 lead.

The Red Knights picked up in the second half where they left off in the first as Koller returned the opening kickoff 42 yards, setting up BSM at the Tigers’ 49. Studsrud then exploited the Fridley defense, going up the middle on the first play of the half for his second TD of the game.

An 11-play drive on their next possession stalled at the Fridley 29 but the Red Knights forced a punt and got the ball back on their own 12 with 4:25 to play in the third quarter.

On second-and-two, Koller took the ball 37 yards and, with a 15-yard facemask penalty added to the end of the run, gave BSM the ball on the visitors’ 28. Garrett Haughey raced into the end zone on the next play but the score was called back due to a holding penalty.

Undeterred, Haughey once again took the handoff and went 36 yards for a touchdown and a 33-0 Red Knight lead.

BSM’s final touchdown came with 8:59 to play in the game and was set up by a turnover as Barrett Fitzgerald’s hit on Darius Mulbah forced the Tiger running back to fumble and Nick Viers recovered the ball on the Fridley 31.

On the next play, Peter Watkins took a handoff from Jack Goldstein, found running room on the left side and raced  31 yards for his second touchdown of the season.

In all, the Red Knight offense tallied a season-high 575 yards on offense, averaging 9.6 yards per play. Five BSM players outrushed Fridley, which finished with just 35 yards on the ground. Gorrilla racked up 93 yards while Haughey had 60 yards on just three carries. Watkins gained 53 yards and Koller’s one attempt netted 37 yards.

Studsrud’s 166 passing yards came on a 6-for-11 performance, completing three passes to Backes for 76 yards while Koller had 78 receiving yards on two catches.

BSM turned in a solid defensive effort, yielding just 3.7 yards per play to the Tigers, giving up 238 yards on 64 plays.

Callaghan Commers led the defense with a career-high 14 tackles, which included a quarterback sack and he was also credited with a quarterback hurry.

Fitzgerald and Luke Musech each recorded five solo tackles, tallying 12 and 10 total tackles, respectively.

From his cornerback position, Joseph Pauly was credited with a pair of pass breakups as well as intercepting a pass..

The win advances BSM to the Section 6AAAA semifinals, Saturday, at 7 p.m. There, the Red Knights will meet top-seeded and state No. 1-ranked DeLaSalle on the Islanders’ home field.

The winner of Saturday’s semifinal game will play Friday, Nov. 2, against either second-seeded Robbinsdale Cooper or number three seed St. Anthony Village for the section championship. That game will be a 7 p.m. kickoff at the site of the highest remaining seed.

For complete game statistics, click here.