By STUART GROSKREUTZ
November 2, 2011

ARDEN HILLS - It was a fade pattern that will live in infamy for the Stillwater football team, which had its state tournament aspirations dashed by Mounds View on the final play of a 19-18 loss in Saturday's Section 2AAAAA semifinals at Mustang Stadium.

The Mustangs completed a wild last-minute drive with Quinn Madsen hauling in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mike Kerfeld as time expired in the latest battle between these Suburban East Conference rivals.

This marked the fourth consecutive year the Mustangs have ended Stillwater's season in the section playoffs - and their ninth victory in the last 10 meetings since 2006. None of the setbacks have been especially pleasant, but Saturday's loss was gut wrenching for a team that had victory within its grasp just moments earlier.

"They played their tails off," Ponies coach Beau LaBore said. "I know that our guys left it all on the field and that's far more important than any numbers on the scoreboard."

Stillwater ended its first season under LaBore with a 7-3 record, losing twice to Mounds View and once to unbeaten Cretin-Derham Hall, which is a finalist in Section 4AAAAA. The Mustangs (9-1) advance to face top-seeded Totino-Grace (9-1), a 28-0 semifinal winner over White Bear Lake, in the section finals on Friday. Mounds View has advanced to state each of the past four years and a total of seven times since 2000.

A repeat trip to the section finals didn't appear likely when the Mustangs took over at their own 28-yard line with just 53 seconds remaining.

With the Ponies clinging to an 18-13 lead, Charlie Register intercepted a pass near midfield with just two minutes remaining and Stillwater's hopes grew when quarterback Nate Ricci gained nine yards on first down. The Ponies, however, committed illegal formation penalties on second-and-1 and again on third-and-2 - and then stopped the clock for Mounds View while running out of bounds before punting the ball away.

Those miscues left the Mustangs with nearly a minute remaining when they regained possession. Kerfeld completed three straight passes to Madsen covering 11, 18 and 6 yards to move into Stillwater territory. After a 13-yard completion to Austin Smestad, good fortune found the Mustangs with an improbable completion that helped set up the game-winner.

Kerfeld threw into coverage over the middle and a Stillwater defensive back made a crushing hit that sent the ball high into the air before Smestad, who was not the intended target, came down with it in traffic for a 24-yard gain down to the 5 with just eight seconds remaining. An incompletion left just three seconds on the clock and time for one more play, which Mounds View took advantage of with a perfectly placed fade pass hauled in by Madsen - who was tightly covered on the play - in the left corner of the end zone.

"A lot of that minute felt like slow motion," LaBore said. "We told our guys from the beginning that the game was probably going to come down to a couple of plays or a couple of inches and that's exactly what happened. There were a lot of situations that the game kind of teetered on and there was a lot of different ways we either had that game won or could have had that game won and they didn't take place, but you also have to give some credit to Mounds View for playing until the last play and finding a way."

The touchdown set off a wild celebration as Mounds View players and students stormed the field - a stark contrast to the dejected Ponies littering the field.

"There's a lot of history between these two teams so both sides are going to scratch and claw to get every inch and that's what the game really came down to was a couple of inches," LaBore said.

Mounds View coach Jim Galvin had his own explanation for the shocking turn of events in the final minute.

"It's called luck," he said. "I think Stillwater played better than us tonight. On the last drive it was just our quarterback and the kids making plays. We're very proud of the ownership the kids take in things and just happy. I feel terrible for Stillwater, their kids played a heck of a game and they're a good football team. We were luckier than them tonight."

Prior to the late fireworks it was a defensive struggle for much of the game, with turnovers leading to all three first-half touchdowns. Stillwater led 12-7 at halftime, but the Mustangs finished off a 15-play, 62-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge by Jeremy Redmond for a 13-12 lead with 9:32 remaining in the fourth.

Ricci, who finished with a game-high 104 rushing yards on 24 attempts, moved to quarterback and drove the Ponies 69 yards in 12 plays to take the lead back at 18-13 with 4:20 remaining. Nick Anderson contributed 32 yards rushing on the drive while Ricci scrambled for nine yards on a busted play down to the 1, before punching it in on a quarterback sneak on the next play to move back in front 18-13.

Mounds View was on the march on the ensuing drive before Madsen was flagged for a personal foul to negate a nice gain and Register intercepted Kerfeld two plays later.

The jubilation was short-lived, however, after failing to convert a first down and setting the stage for Mounds View's game-winning drive.

"Our guys played really hard," LaBore said. "We left a few plays on the field that could have made a difference, but when it comes down to it, our guys played really hard and made some big plays. We just needed to find a way to make a few more."

Both teams were sloppy with the ball in the first half as Stillwater lost two fumbles - including one on its first offensive play - and Mounds View returned the favor with three lost fumbles before halftime.

"We played pretty well in the first half, we just hurt ourselves," Galvin said. "I don't think we've fumbled a snap all year and we fumbled two of them. Offensively, we sputtered, but it was because (the Ponies) are pretty dang good. I thought they were more physical than us tonight. I thought they outplayed us and it was sloppy, but our defense kept us in the ballgame and when it's a one-score game anything can happen. You throw the ball up and goofy things can happen."

After Stillwater fumbled on the first play, the Mustangs went 37 yards to grab a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game on a 2-yard run by Tyler Hansen. The Ponies moved the ball on their second possession but lost another fumble to thwart those efforts.

Mounds View gave it back with lost fumbles on each of its next three possessions - two of which were recovered by defensive lineman Cartier Alexander, who also finished with a team-high nine solo tackles and one sack.

Mike Wicker also recovered a fumbled snap on Mounds View's own 7-yard line and Ricci didn't waste any time while racing around the right side and diving to the end zone for a touchdown in the opening minute of the second quarter. The failed extra-point kick - the hold never found the kicking tee - left Mounds View in front 7-6.

Alexander recovered another fumble deep in Mounds View territory to set up a 4-yard scoring pass from Aaron Romportl to Zach Krenz for a 12-7 lead. A delay of game penalty prevented the Ponies from attempting a two-point conversion and the subsequent extra-point kick was blocked.

Stillwater's defense was consistent throughout, creating four turnovers and limiting the Mustangs to just 109 rushing yards on 39 attempts. Mounds View rushed for 317 yards on 47 carries during a 21-14 win over the Ponies on Sept. 30.

Hansen was the biggest difference in that game while racking up 192 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries, but the Ponies limiting him to just 47 yards on 11 rushes on Saturday.

"If you want to compare the two games the biggest difference is that we were able to have more consistent success on offense, which gave our defense some time to regain themselves," LaBore said. "Despite the fact that (Hansen) is a good player, I think a bigger situation is the fact that we allowed our defense to get worn down pretty good in the first game."

The Ponies were playing without outside linebacker Sam Hodnefield, who was injured in the section quarterfinal victory over Tartan.

"He was a huge part of our defense, especially against a wing-T system where the outside linebacker has significant responsibilities," LaBore said. "Matt Ogren stepped in and did a nice job for him, but what really hurt is it also compromised our depth and we had some guys who could have used a breather at the end.

"Our defense played outstanding. You know they're doing a great job against Mounds View when you see they threw the ball as often as they did because they knew they weren't going to be able to run the ball against us."

After throwing for just 35 yards in the earlier meeting, Kerfeld completed 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards this time around. Nine of those receptions were by Madsen for 97 yards.

"The last time we played them it was only a seven-point game and we knew it was going to be a battle," Galvin said. "I didn't know it was going to come down to the last play of the game."

The Ponies gathered together one final "practice" session on Monday.

"We were able to bring some closure to the season," LaBore said. "It was a better opportunity to reflect on the season as a whole, as opposed to the bitter end on Saturday.

"They'll bounce back and they'll persevere in whatever they do in life. This is a great group of guys - a great group of football players, but even better guys. They helped me understand some important things about Stillwater football so that I could embrace Stillwater football and, at the same time, made it easy for me to begin things that I think are important. They definitely will always have an important place with me. They're a very good group of young men that have had some good success over two years."

Stillwater: 0-12-0-6 - 18
Mounds View: 7-0-0-12 - 19

MV - Tyler Hansen 2 run (Alec Tolson kick) 9:31.
St - Nate Ricci 7 run (kick failed) 11:27.
St - Zach Krenz 4 pass from Aaron Romportl (kick failed) 7:21.
MV - Jeremy Redmond 1 run (pass failed) 9:32.
St - Ricci 1 run (pass failed) 4:20.
MV - Quinn Madsen 5 pass from Mike Kerfeld, :00.

Team stats

First downs: St 15, MV 19
Rushes-yards: St 45-186, MV 39-109
Passing yards: St 44, MV 156
Total yards: St 230, MV 265
Comp-Att-Int: St 5-11-1, MV 13-24-1
Fumbles/lost: St 2/2, MV 3/3
Penalties/yards: St 5/24, MV 6/59
Punts/avg: St 4/30.5, MV 3/37.7

Individual statistics

Rushing - St: Nate Ricci 24-104, Nick Anderson 15-57, Zachary Krenz 3-13 and Cartier Alexander 3-12; MV: Tyler Hansen 11-47, Jeremy Redmond 16-39, Austin Smestad 5-27, Mitch Fredrickson 1-1, TJ Horn 1-0, team 1-0 and Mike Kerfeld 4-(-5).

Passing (com-att-yds-td-int) - St: Aaron Romportl 4-8-38-1-1 and Nate Ricci 1-3-6-0-0; MV: Mike Kerfeld 13-22-156-1-1 and Tyler Hansen 0-1-0-0-0.

Receiving - St: Derrick Thingvold 1-15, Joshua Weess 1-12, Grant Moden 1-7, Cartier Alexander 1-6 and Zach Krenz 1-4; MV: Quinn Madsen 9-97, Austin Smestad 2-37, Tyler Hansen 1-15, Justin Ortt 1-7.

Kickoff returns - St: Nate Ricci 2-38 and Charlie Register 1-20; MV: Austin Smestad 3-39.

Punt returns - St: none; MV: Chris Severson 1-3 and Ryan Vijums 1-(-1).

Interceptions - St: Charlie Register 1-0; MV: Tyler Hansen 1-0.

Fumble recoveries - St: Cartier Alexander 2-0 and Mike Wicker 1-0; MV: Chris Severson 1-0 and Ryan Vijums 1-0.