Shakopee wins Football University Team of the Week

Shakopee’s upset of Rosemount impressed fans enough to vote it the Football University Team of the Week for Week 8 of the 2017 season.

The Sabers earned almost two-thirds of the tallies to win the poll. Senior Tony Monroe accounted for two touchdowns (one rushing, one passing) and threw for 122 yards to lead the Sabers to the 19-14 win.

Shakopee trailed by one after the first quarter, but scored 13-straight points to take a two-possession lead into the fourth quarter.

“I was pleased the way we responded early after Rosemount’s first score which was a big play on third down,” said Shakopee coach Ray Betton via email.

Monroe’s 30-yard scoring strike to Charlie Katona, who finished with 72 yards receiving, provided the first points of the game. Junior linebacker Vladislav Fredis paced the defense with 12 tackles.

The victory gave the Red-and-Black its first .500 or better season since moving to a Class 6A schedule in 2014. The 4-4 regular-season record is the program’s best in Betton’s three-year tenure.

Shakopee will host Eastview in the opening round of the playoffs on Friday, but Betton said this year’s achievements are only the first step in the program’s development.

“We, as a program, are moving in the right direction,” Betton said. “[Continuing] to not beat ourselves with pre-snap penalties and turnovers, making plays on offense and stopping the run on defense will be the key in the playoffs.”

Kingsland (Spring Valley) finished second in the FBU Team of the Week voting with nearly 30 percent of the vote. The Knights ended their 50-game losing streak by defeating Hayfield in the regular-season finale.