Hard Work Pays Off: St. Thomas Academy @ Chaska

Last night, after getting hassled by the Chaska moms attending the front entrance table for what they thought was a fake media pass, I was lucky enough to witness the St. Thomas Academy Cadets (who came in at 7-0) visit a rough and tough Chaska Hawks (who were 6-1). The game came to a surprising result, as Class 5A, No. 7 Chaska looked in control throughout all four quarters and shut out the Class 5A, No. 2 Cadets - who hadn't scored less than 28 points in any game previously this season- in route to a dominant 20-0 victory. The Hawks defense held STA to only four first downs, who were without their best player: Kansas University commit Tommy Brandt (6'5, 271). No discredit to Chaska however, as the Hawks looked much stronger than their No. 7 rank suggested. They also have some impressive size, as their senior class featured DB Ben Courneya (6'4, 190), RB Stevo Klotz (6'5, 210), LB Nick Stanger (6'3, 205), LB Marcus Holasek (6'3, 233), DL and Minnesota State commit Max Lommel (6'2, 275), and OL Ben Stoffel (6'4, 225) had me thinking I was back playing in the MIAC again. Klotz - who holds offers from Bemidji State, Augustana, and SMSU - was my player of the game as he ran the ball 24 times for 112 yards and 1 TD and looked like more than a load to tackle. The Hawks now have some important momentum rolling into sections, and the Cadets find themselves reeling as they see their once undefeated season fall before them. Klotz and Courneya began the day off strong for the Hawks as the pair made a big TFL and a nice PBU, respectively, after pooch kicking the ball off to STA to begin the game. Chaska began pounding the ball with Klotz on offense after stopping STA, and 2020 QB Grif Wurtz (5'11, 170) helped lead the Hawks down the field before a flag and the Cadet defense - led by MLB Ben Reppenhagen (6'4, 227) - held Chaska to a FG and the first score of the game: 3-0. After stalling out again on offense, St. Thomas Academy's stud DB Mitch MacDonald (6'2, 185) made two nice PBU's to give his team the ball back. After picking up a few first downs, including a 4th and 1, a flag stalled out what proved to be the Cadets best drive of the half. Another FG for Chaska after some more accurate Wurtz throws and Klotz rumblin' and stumblin' made the score 6-0, and after yet another Cadet punt MacDonald made an even bigger play and came up with a great interception to put St. Thomas in great field position, [caption id="attachment_14290" align="alignright" width="300"] Credit: MNFootballHub[/caption] but the offense was just too one dimensional and could once again not muster anything more than a first down. The score remained 6-0 at the end of the first half. Chaska received the second half KO, and immediately got back to work with Klotz and the ground game. The senior rushed five times in a row down the field to STA's 14, where Wurtz ran it in for an opening drive touchdown to make the score 13-0. The Hawks defense was swarming the Cadet ballcarriers like the prey their name suggests, and kept STA behind the chains all half yet again. A direct snap to Klotz from the 2-yard line with 6:41 left in the game made the score 20-0, and they quickly suffocated any attempt St. Thomas Academy tried to make in terms of a comeback. I came away really impressed by this Chaska Hawks team and would bet on them making some noise in the 5A playoffs this year.