<\/p>\n
With three seconds left, there was no doubt on the Eagan sideline. The underdog Wildcats were going for the win.<\/p>\n
Gage Halvorson caught a 12-yard reception from Parker West on the previous play to get the seventh-seeded Wildcats within one point of No. 2 seed Woodbury in a Class 6A playoff game on Friday.<\/p>\n
West took the snap, went into the right side of the line. Could the sophomore quarterback complete the upset? Would Woodbury make the stop?<\/p>\n
Into the pile went the 155-pound West.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere he got tackled, I didn\u2019t know if we were advancing or were done,\u201d Woodbury coach Andy Hill said.<\/p>\n
An official near the sideline came running in and ruled that a group of Royals\u2019 defenders stopped West was just shy of the line. Woodbury players exhaled with jubilation; a few Eagan players fell to their knees.<\/p>\n
Final: 21-20 Woodbury.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing on that sideline, hearing that crowd, hearing the boys cheer, there\u2019s nothing better,\u201d said Shawn Rekowski, who had a touchdown catch for the Royals (7-2). \u201cThey were on the 1. That\u2019s as good as it gets. That\u2019s what high school football is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played with fire and we\u2019re lucky we didn\u2019t get burned,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n
The Royals next are home to No. 6 seed Moorhead, which wears orange and black, on Halloween. The Spuds upset No. 3 Blaine 38-21 to advance.<\/p>\n
Moorhead jumped out to a 21-0 second quarter lead and hung on to win at Woodbury 34-27 in Week 2. The Royals got stopped inside the Moorhead 5-yard line late in that one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we were all hoping for, that rematch, come back to our house and see what we can do,\u201d Rekowski said.<\/p>\n
Against Eagan, an 18-yard touchdown reception by Nolan Freymiller capped a 10-play, 78-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter for the Royals. Rekowski caught a 38-yard pass late in the third quarter as Woodbury tied the game 14-14.<\/p>\n
Woodbury has outscored its opponents 138-75 in the second half this season. Of the team\u2019s nine games, Hill said they trailed at the break six times but came back to win five of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we kick ourselves in the foot by coming out and maybe playing a little slow, watching what they can do. Second half, we realize it\u2019s go time. Second half is the team we can be. We just got to play like that the whole game,\u201d Rekowski said.<\/p>\n
It still almost was not enough to prevent an upset.<\/p>\n
Eagan coach Nick Johnson found plenty to be proud about of his team\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the best we played all year. We talked about just putting together a complete and we did,\u201d he said. \u201cWe played well enough to win \u2026 but sometimes that\u2019s how life works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Brandt and West had long first-half touchdown runs for a14-6 Wildcat lead at the break, Charlie Heinlein and Grady Recer had interceptions and Harrison Brandt had two sacks for the Wildcats (2-7).<\/p>\n\n
Originally Published: