The Raiders Storm over Central in a Neighborhood Battle

ST PAUL-- On Saturday afternoon, we scouted a section semifinal in Section 4AAAAA that was a St. Paul neighborhood battle between Cretin-Derham Hall and St. Paul Central which are two miles apart from each other and both have had over the years a significant plethora of football talent at the next-level and into the NFL as well. Lets find out who took care of business in this one below!

1st Quarter

St. Paul Central

The Minutemen started off with a nearly 9 minute first drive of the game and in the end, it was the running game from senior running back Lavontae Cox who got St. Paul Central their first lead of the game around 6 minutes left in the 1st quarter left. St. Paul Central 7, Cretin-Derham Hall 0

2nd Quarter

Cretin-Derham Hall

To start the second quarter the Raiders flexed the momentum fully in their direction and never looked back, as senior quarterback Miles Bollinger connected with junior tight end Monteff Dixon Monteff Dixon 6'5" | 215 lbs | TE Cretin-Derham Hall | 2025 State MN on a eye-catching back-shoulder ball placement for a 17-yard Raiders touchdown. St. Paul Central 7, Cretin Derham-Hall 7

Cretin-Derham Hall

The Raiders defense came out firing after their first touchdown. and plenty of it had to do with junior linebacker Jaydn Harris Jaydn Harris 5'11" | 200 lbs | LB Cretin-Derham Hall | 2025 State MN as he picked off the Minutemen and took it to the house for a 20-yard interception for a pick-six. Jaydn was absolutely everywhere on Saturday afternoon at Griffin Field. Cretin-Derham Hall 14, St. Paul Central 7

St. Paul Central

With about five minutes left in the first half, The Minutemen showed off their kicking game, as Simon Amnuel booted a 38-yard field goal to get St. Paul Central back in striking distance of the Raiders. Cretin-Derham Hall 14, St. Paul Central 10

Cretin-Derham Hall

The Raiders would answer right back to close out the first half, as we saw the first touchdown of the day from junior running back Tommy Sticha who used his elusive footwork to feed Cretin-Derham Hall a 11 point lead on their neighborhood rival going into halftime. Cretin-Derham Hall 21, St. Paul Central 10, Halftime

3rd Quarter

Cretin-Derham Hall

If you wanted effective play from the tight end position you saw in this game, as Raiders senior quarterback Miles Bollinger found junior tight end Monteff Dixon Monteff Dixon 6'5" | 215 lbs | TE Cretin-Derham Hall | 2025 State MN on a 48-yard receiving touchdown as Monteff showed off very impressive vision and athletic movement on that score that I will get into deeper when we uncover our Big Dogs of the Game next. Cretin-Derham Hall 28, St. Paul Central 10

St. Paul Central

The Minutemen would accumulate one final scoring drive around midway thru the third quarter, as senior Lavontae Cox would get his second rushing touchdown of the day as he had plenty of open field to walk in for a 28-yard rushing touchdown. Cretin-Derham Hall 28, St. Paul Central 17

Cretin-Derham Hall

Remember I said this was a big day for tight ends earlier? Time to meet another one, as it was another junior in Brady Stoeklen that escaped the Minutemen defense for a 55-yard touchdown in which Brady evaded a handful of tacklers to get into the end zone. Cretin-Derham Hall 35, St. Paul Central 17

4th Quarter

Cretin-Derham Hall

We would see two more passing touchdowns from senior Miles Bollinger in the 4th quarter, as early in the 4th quarter he would find junior Tommy Sticha for Tommy's second total touchdown of the afternoon, giving the Raiders a very comfortable lead in this battle for the neighborhood in this Section 4AAAAA semifinal.

Cretin-Derham Hall

My hands were too frozen this late in the game to tweet this scoring update, but Miles would get his fifth passing touchdown of the game when he connected with senior wide receiver Jayden Gayles for the Raiders to advance to the Section 4AAAAA final against Mahtomedi next Friday. Miles finished his impressive Saturday with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 as well. Cretin-Derham Hall 49, St. Paul Central 17, Final

Next Up: We will take peek at our notes to see who came out as our Big Dog's of the Game from Saturday afternoon in St. Paul from the Raiders and the Minutemen.