---

South St. Paul 30, Chisago Lakes 10

The second-seeded South St. Paul Packers scored 30 points in the first half and went on to beat the sixth-seeded Wildcat football team 30-10 in the semifinals of the Section 3AAAA tournament Saturday, October 25 at South St. Paul High School.  The loss ended the 2025 season for the Wildcats.

The Packers scored on all four of their possessions in the first half.  They opened the game with a nine-play drive, all runs. Ben Thrun took it in from the five-yard line.  After the two-point conversion, the Packers led 8-0.  The Wildcats began their first drive at their own 29.  Two false start penalties on second down put them at third and 18.  Kellen Meissner picked up 12 yards on third down, and the Wildcats were forced to punt from their own 35.  After a punt by Owen Morley and a short return, South St. Paul took over at their own 37.  On the sixth play of the drive, the Packers faced first down at the Wildcat 23.  Jake Baldus took the handoff, headed around left end, and outraced the Wildcat secondary to the right front corner of the end zone.  The two-point attempt failed, and the Wildcats trailed 14-0.  On the Wildcats’ next possession, Diesel Lundeen had runs of 16 and 13 yards.  On fourth and 3 from the 26, Meissner called his own number and cut through the right side of the line for a six-yard gain and a first down.  After another false start, the Wildcat were back at the 25.  Messner took the snap, rolled left, and hit Jacob Grabow over the middle on a slant for first and goal at the ten-yard line.  But the drive stalled there.  On fourth and goal from the 13, Morley came in to attempt a field goal. He nailed a 30-yarder right down the middle, and the Wildcats cut the South St. Paul lead to 14-3.  On the second play of the Packers’ next drive, Baldus took the handoff around right and ran 70 yards for a touchdown, and South St. Paul led 22-3 after the two-point conversion.  After starting from their own 35, the Wildcats faced third and two from their own 43.  Reese Nasvik stumbled as he took the handoff and never got a hold of it cleanly.  The ball hit the ground and the Packers pounced on it at the Wildcat 44.  Throwing their first pass of the game, the Packers looked like they had a 20-yard completion, but Carter Anderson knocked the ball out of the receiver’s hands and the pass was incomplete.  But South St. Paul continued to move the ball.  Seven plays later, on fourth and one from the eight, Sincere Casarez-McCampbell rolled right and hit Keishion Jarman in the front of the end zone for a touchdown.  The two-pointer made it 30-3 going into halftime.

On the opening drive of the second half, the Wildcats moved the ball deep into Packer territory, but the drive stalled and they turned it over on downs.  On fourth and two from the 28, South St. Paul lined up to punt.  As the ball was snapped for what appeared to be a punt, the punter leaped up like the ball had sailed over his head.  The ball had actually been snapped to Casarez-McCampbell, the upback, and he gained just enough for the first down.  South St. Paul ended up running 14 plays on a clock-killing drive before being forced to punt from the Wildcat 43 on the last play of the third quarter.  After the teams exchanged possessions, the Wildcats started a drive at their own 30.  The drive included a 17-yard run by Nasvik and a 17-yard pass from Meissner to Morley.  On first down from the Packer 32, Meissner pitched right to Nasvik, and he ran down the right sideline, broke a tackle at the ten and was knocked out of bounds at the one.  Zack Karst took it up the middle for a touchdown on the next play and, after Morley’s extra point, the Wildcats trailed 30-10.  After a failed onside kick attempt, the Packers ran out the clock and the Wildcats’ season was over.

---